Judge rules pharmacist tied to 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak will go to trial

A Livingston County Circuit Court judge ruled Thursday that a lower court correctly determined in August there is enough evidence for Glenn Chin to stand trial in connection with the fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 that killed 15 Livingston County residents.

Barry Cadden, who owned Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center, and pharmacist Chin were each charged with 11 counts of second-degree murder in 2018 by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office following a federal trial. Both men were found guilty in federal court of racketeering and fraud, but not guilty on two dozen second-degree murder charges.

Cadden was sentenced to nine years in federal prison, Chin to eight years.

The Massachusetts men produced and distributed the tainted steroids that caused the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak, according to state prosecutors.

In August, Livingston County District Court Judge Shauna Murphy determined the AG’s office presented enough evidence for both men to proceed to trial.

Cadden and Chin are charged in connection with the deaths of Livingston County residents Donna Kruzich, Paula Brent, Lyn Laperriere, Sally Roe, Mary Plettl, Gayle Gibson, Patricia Malafouris, Emma Todd, Jennie Barth, Ruth Madouse and Karina Baxter.

Overall, 751 patients in 20 states contracted meningitis infections after being injected with steroids that came from NECC, according to the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. Of those patients, 64 died, many from Michigan, where 217 cases were linked to Michigan Pain Specialists in Genoa Township, which had dispensed the NECC contaminated steroids.

“It’s our opinion that Glenn Chin did not cause the (methylprednisolone) to become contaminated, therefore there’s no evidence that Glenn Chin caused these deaths,” Chin’s attorney, Jim Buttrey, said Thursday.

The steroids Chin manufactured were sterile, even the untested lots sent out with falsified lot numbers, Buttrey argued.

“Glen Chinn made the bulk of the methylprednisolone, it always tested sterile,” he said.

Assistant Attorney General Gregory Townsend disagreed and said the evidence against Chin was “overwhelming.”

He said the state does not believe Chin intended to kill the victims but knowingly created a higher risk of death and great bodily harm.

Chin