receive a three-year probation and an official reprimand. In early 2006, however, the state pharmacy board overruled its own staff, approving a consent agreement whereby NECC was placed on probation for a year, with this probation immediately stayed. The deal followed a plea from NECC attorney Cirel, who argued that probation would place an undue financial burden on NECC and could trigger punitive action against the firm in other states where it was licensed. The NECC attorney wrote at the time, "The collateral consequences to many if not all of NECC's other licenses in 42 states would be potentially fatal to the business." State officials agreed not to report the reduced probation agreement to regulators in other states. Related content: The deadly fungal meningitis outbreak in the US continues to spread. According to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 247 people in 15 states have been sickened in the outbreak, and the death toll has risen to 19.... Polio, the dreaded paralyzing disease stamped out in the industrialized world, is spreading in Nigeria. And health officials say that in some cases, it's caused by the vaccine used to fight it. In July, the World Health Organization issued a warning that this vaccine-spread virus might extend beyond Africa.... All the outrage that certain high-ranking labor officials showed in response to the Democrat's "Cadillac" health care tax turned out to be a big act. Their angry performances earned them a prestigious visit to the White House,