Indiana Bans Firm Tied to Meningitis Outbreak

Indiana has banned a pharmaceutical company linked to a deadly multistate fungal meningitis outbreak from doing business in the state.

The Indiana Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously Monday to suspend the license of the New England Compounding Center. The Elkhart Truth reports (http://bit.ly/XgrSjv ) that the board's decision comes weeks after Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed an October emergency petition against the Framingham, Mass.-based firm.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 419 cases in 19 states of meningitis linked to contaminated steroid shots distributed by the company.

Thirty people have died as a result of the outbreak. Indiana has recorded 51 cases of the illness and four deaths.

State health officials say six Indiana clinics received the tainted steroids.