Feds scrutinize pharmacies Congress took a half step this week toward increasing federal oversight of so-called compounding pharmacies that custom mix medications in bulk, a year after a meningitis outbreak from contaminated steroid pain injections killed 64 people and sickened hundreds more. AP WIRE NOV 20, 2013

The Senate approved the bill by voice vote Monday, sending it to the White House, where President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law. The legislation also creates a national system for tracking prescription drugs from manufacturers to retail pharmacies, first through serial numbers on bottles and later through electronic codes. The House passed it in September.

More than 750 people were sickened by last year's outbreak of deadly fungal meningitis and many continue to suffer debilitating pain and nerve damage. The sickness was eventually traced to a now-closed pharmacy in Framingham, Mass., the New England Compounding Center, where inspectors found mold, standing water and other unsterile conditions. The company shipped more than 17,600 doses of the implicated steroid injection to 23 states.

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