CLARIFICATION, October 17
(Associated Press) -- In a story on Oct. 10, The Associated Press reported that Ameridose LLC had settled a defamation and slander suit against one of its customers, Novation, that had alleged the pharmacy had quality control problems. At the time, company officials told the AP the settlement was confidential, but the news cooperative has since learned that as part of the settlement the two companies agreed to continue working together.

BOSTON (AP) -- A Massachusetts company run by the same executives who operated a specialty pharmacy linked to a fatal meningitis outbreak has agreed to temporarily shut down for inspection by state and federal regulators.

Ameridose is located in Westborough, Mass. The New England Compounding Center, which produced a steroid linked to the outbreak, is in Framingham. Both firms are run by Barry Cadden and Greg Conigliaro.

Ameridose provides sterile medication in prefilled oral syringes to about 3,000 hospitals nationwide. It opened its doors in 2006, eight years after NECC opened.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health says Ameridose agreed to the shutdown until inspections by state regulators and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are completed.

There is no recall of Ameridose products.

The outbreak has sickened 137 people in 10 states. Twelve have died.

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