Ex-pharmacy exec convicted in meningitis outbreak
BOSTON — The former head of a Massachusetts pharmacy was acquitted Wednesday of murder allegations, but convicted of racketeering and other crimes in a meningitis outbreak that was traced to fungus-contaminated drugs and killed 64 people across the U.S.
Prosecutors said Barry Cadden, 50, ran the business in an “extraordinarily dangerous” way by disregarding unsanitary conditions to boost production and make more money.
Cadden, president and cofounder of the now-closed New England Compounding Center, was charged with 25 counts of second-degree murder, conspiracy and other offences under federal racketeering law.
After five days of deliberations, the jury refused to hold Cadden responsible for the deaths and cleared him on the murder counts. He was found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud and could get a long prison term at sentencing June 21.
The 2012 outbreak of fungal meningitis and other infections in 20 states was traced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to contaminated injections of medical steroids, given mostly to people with back pain. In addition to those who died, 700 people fell ill. Indiana, Michigan and Tennessee were hit hardest.
Joan Peay, 76, of Nashville, Tennessee, suffered two bouts of meningitis after receiving a shot for back pain. She wept upon learning the verdict.
“He killed people and he’s getting away with murder.”