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Morning headlines: Thursday, December 22, 2011

(via Flickr/nerissa's ring)

Wal-Mart pulls baby formula after Mo. infant dies

Wal-Mart says it is pulling a batch of powdered infant formula from its shelves out of an "abundance of caution" following the death Sunday of a 10-day-old Missouri boy.

The government has not issued a recall for the 12.5 oz. cans of Enfamil Newborn formula with the lot number ZP1K7G. The formula's manufacturer, Mead Johnson Nutrition, says the batch tested negative for the bacterium that's suspected in the death of of Avery Cornett of Lebanon, Mo., near Springfield. A spokesman for Mead Johnson says it's unclear if other retailers received formula from the same batch.

Leaders request documents from redistricting panels

Missouri House leaders from both parties want to examine records from the judicial panel that drew the new state legislative districts based on the 2010 census.

Eureka Republican Tim Jones , the House majority leader and minority leader Mike Talboy, a Kansas City Democrat, have filed a request under the state's open records law for all documents the panel generated, including e-mails sent among the judges and panel staff and outside parties. Critics of the new maps have raised questions about how they were developed.

The appeals court judges drafted the new state House and Senate maps after two bipartisan commissions deadlocked. While the judicial panel accepted a day of public testimony, it met and deliberated in private.

Medco shareholders approve merger with Express Scripts

Shareholders of the pharmacy benefit management company Medco have approved a proposed merger with St. Louis-based Express Scripts.

The New Jersey-based health care company says the shareholders present at a special meeting on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly for the deal, which is worth about $29 million. Medco says about 72 percent of the eligible shareholders were present.

The merger would create the largest pharmacy benefit manager in the country. Express Scripts shareholders and the federal government must also approve the deal, which has faced scrutiny from Congress and criticism from associations representing smaller pharmacies.

Medco says it expects the deal to close in the first half of next year.

Rachel is the justice correspondent at St. Louis Public Radio.