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Sen. Alexander to Participate in Senate Hearing on Meningitis Outbreak
Posted on November 13, 2012
Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander will participate in a U.S. Senate committee hearing on Thursday to examine state and federal oversight of the New England Compounding Center (NECC), the source of the contaminated steroid injections that have caused a meningitis outbreak nationwide.
"This hearing is an important step to learning as much as we can about this tragic
outbreak so that we can ensure that it never happens again. Tennessee officials identified the outbreak and responded quickly to the cases in our state, and I'm asking for their insights to help legislators in our next steps."
In the new Congress, Alexander is likely to be ranking Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which is holding the hearing entitled "Pharmacy Compounding: Implications of the 2012 Meningitis Outbreak."
Nationwide, 438 non-fatal cases have been reported and 32 deaths have been caused by meningitis. Tennessee leads the nation in the number of fatalities, 13 deaths, and illnesses.
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