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Lawmakers eye tougher pharmacy regulations

BOSTON (AP) - Legislation that would clamp down on compounding pharmacies like the one blamed for a nationwide meningitis outbreak last year is making its way through the Massachusetts Statehouse.

House lawmakers released the latest version of the bill on Monday and are expected to debate the measure on Beacon Hill on Wednesday.

It's not the only legislation aimed at increasing oversight of the pharmacies that mix customized drugs.

The U.S. House on Saturday approved legislation that would give the federal Food and Drug Administration clearer oversight of the pharmacies.

Both measures come almost a year after a meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people and sickened hundreds more was traced to a compounding company in Framingham, Mass.

Inspectors later found unsanitary conditions at the New England Compounding Center, which has since closed.