Massachusetts lawmakers will begin hearings this month on the state Department of Public Health's handling of two recent crises.
The first State House hearing, on Nov. 14, will look at the department's oversight of pharmacies in Massachusetts. It comes in the wake of a fungal meningitis outbreak linked to a compounding pharmacy in Framingham that has sickened 377 nationwide, 28 of whom had died as of Nov. 1.
The second public hearing will look at the department's supervision of a state drug laboratory following a testing scandal that has threatened to unravel thousands of criminal cases in Massachusetts.
A third hearing will also be held at a date and time to be announced.
Legislators who announced the hearings on Nov. 1 said they could form the basis for new state laws.
