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Pharmacist Linked to Deadly Meningitis Outbreak Sentenced to Prison
On Jan. 31, 2018, a federal judge in Boston, Massachusetts, sentenced Glenn Chin — the former supervisory pharmacist at the now-shuttered New England Compounding Center (NECC) located in Framingham, Massachusetts — to eight years in prison for his role in the deadly nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 that had been linked to tainted steroid drugs made by the company.[1] In October 2017, Chin had been...
Pharmacist Linked to Deadly Meningitis Outbreak Sentenced to Prison
On Jan. 31, 2018, a federal judge in Boston, Massachusetts, sentenced Glenn Chin — the former supervisory pharmacist at the now-shuttered New England Compounding Center (NECC) located in Framingham, Massachusetts — to eight years in prison for his role in the deadly nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 that had been linked to tainted steroid drugs made by the company.[1] In October 2017, Chin had been convicted of mail fraud and racketeering but cleared of second-degree murder charges, which could have brought a life sentence.[2]
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 2012 to 2014, 753 patients in 20 states had been sickened after receiving injections of the anti-inflammatory steroid methylprednisolone that had been prepared by NECC.[3],[4] At least 64 of these patients died. Prosecutors had charged Chin with the deaths of 25 patients in Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.[5]
Chin is the second senior NECC official to be convicted. In 2017, Barry J. Cadden — former co-owner and head pharmacist of NECC — was sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty on more than 50 counts of racketeering and mail fraud charges.[6],[7]
As supervisory pharmacist, Chin oversaw the so-called clean rooms where sterile drugs, like the steroids that caused the fungal meningitis outbreak, were made. Prosecutors said that Chin ordered other NECC staff to ship untested drugs, use expired ingredients, falsify cleaning logs and ignore mold and bacteria.[8] Given his central role in the devastating outbreak, federal prosecutors had sought a 35-year sentence for Chin.[9]
After Chin’s sentencing, some survivors of the meningitis outbreak expressed dismay that he had received such a light sentence and that neither he nor Cadden had been convicted of murder.[10]
References
[1] Raymond N. Pharmacist tied to U.S. meningitis outbreak gets eight years in prison. January 31, 2018. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-massachusetts-meningitis/pharmacist-tied-to-u-s-meningitis-outbreak-gets-eight-years-in-prison-idUSKBN1FK1LJ?utm_source=34553&utm_medium=partner. Accessed March 5, 2018.
[2] Durkin Richer A. Pharmacist in meningitis outbreak sentence to 8 years. Associated Press. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2018/01/31/meningitis-outbreak/109973380/. Accessed March 5, 2018.
[3] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multistate outbreak of fungal meningitis and other infections –resources for clinicians. Updated October 30, 2015. https://www.cdc.gov/hai/outbreaks/clinicians/index.html. Accessed March 5, 2018.
[4] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multistate outbreak of fungal meningitis and other Infections – case count. Last updated October 29, 2013. http://www.cdc.gov/hai/outbreaks/meningitis-map-large.html#casecount_table. Accessed February 11, 2018.
[5] Durkin Richer A. Pharmacist in meningitis outbreak sentence to 8 years. Associated Press. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2018/01/31/meningitis-outbreak/109973380/. Accessed March 5, 2011.
[6] Bidgood J. Compounding pharmacy owner not guilty of murder after 60 meningitis deaths. March 22, 2017. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/22/us/meningitis-new-england-compounding-center-barry-cadden.html. Accessed March 5, 2018.
[7] Arsenault M, Ellement JR. Pharmacist in meningitis outbreak that killed dozens gets 9 years in prison. June 26, 2017. The Boston Globe. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/06/26/feds-cadden-should-pay-for-fungal-meningitis-outbreak/kwet31ZTnsT4lpq4WRzkXO/story.html. Accessed March 5, 2018.
[8] Raymond N. Pharmacist tied to U.S. meningitis outbreak gets eight years in prison. January 31, 2018. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-massachusetts-meningitis/pharmacist-tied-to-u-s-meningitis-outbreak-gets-eight-years-in-prison-idUSKBN1FK1LJ?utm_source=34553&utm_medium=partner. Accessed March 5, 2018.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Durkin Richer A. Pharmacist in meningitis outbreak sentence to 8 years. Associated Press. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2018/01/31/meningitis-outbreak/109973380/. Accessed March 5, 2018.
