MENINGITIS

House Panel Investigates FDA

Over handling of pharmacy.

Congress sure was busy today. A House oversight committee slammed The Food and Drug Administration for being too slow to shut down the New England Compounding Center, after the pharmaceutical firm released thousands of vials of tainted steroids. “After a tragedy like this, the first question we all ask is: could this have been prevented?” Chairman Cliff Stearns asked FDA officials at a hearing Wednesday. “The answer here appears to be yes.” FDA officials said the agency doesn’t have the authority to regulate compounding pharmacies. Thirty-two people have died, and 461 others have gotten sick as a result of the tainted medication.