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The Justice Department plans to make as much as $40 million available for victims of a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that federal investigators traced to a batch of contaminated steroid injections after a dispute over whether those affected by the outbreak qualified for such financial assistance was finally resolved, officials said. While some of the details still need to be worked out, the Office for Victims of Crime has decided to make the money available from its Crime Victims Fund, which is financed by fines and penalties paid by those convicted of crimes, the officials said. (Zapotosky, 7/7)

Los Angeles County public health officials and LGBT advocates are urging gay and bisexual men to get meningitis vaccinations, citing a recent outbreak of potentially deadly meningococcal disease that is disproportionately affecting men who have sex with men. There have been 17 confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease confirmed in the county so far this year, including 12 in the last two months, Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, the interim director of the L.A. County Department of Public Health, said Thursday. Eight have been among gay or bisexual men, including seven within the last two months, he said. (Branson-Potts, 7/7)