MA Pharmacist To Plead No Contest In 2012 Meningitis Outbreak Case

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The supervising pharmacist of the Massachusetts facility at the center of the 2012 meningitis outbreak will plead no contest to the 11 murder charges against him relating to the deaths of 11 Michigan residents during the outbreak.

Glenn Chin will plead no contest in Michigan, the Associated Press first reported, with the deal calling for a sentence of 7 1/2 years in prison. However, Chin is currently serving a 10 1/2 year federal prison sentence, and will get credit for that time as part of the deal.

Chin is set to appear in a Michigan court on Thursday with his scheduled November trial being scratched from the record.

About 800 people across the nation were sickened in the outbreak which was linked back to the New England Compounding Center (NECC), in Framingham, which produced steroid shots contaminated with fungal meningitis.

Chin worked as the supervising pharmacist.

According to Attorney General Dana Nessel, the nationwide outbreak resulted in 64 deaths, 11 of which occurred at the Michigan Pain Specialists Clinic (MPS) in Livingston County. Chin and company owner Barry Cadden face 11 counts of second-degree murder in Livingston County, one for each person dead.

Patients at the clinic were given epidural injections of the steroid methylprednisolone, which was compounded and produced at the NECC in Massachusetts and shipped to MPS, Nessel said. Donna Kruzich, Paula Brent, Lyn Laperriere, Mary Plettl, Gayle Gibson, Patricia Malafouris, Emma Todd, Jennie Barth, Ruth Madouse, and Karina Baxter died as a result of being injected with the contaminated drug.

Nessel and the Department of the Attorney General allege that the defendants "disregarded sterility procedures in the compounding of sterile medications and created fraudulent cleaning records and falsified scientific testing results," according to a news release.

"Eleven Michiganders tragically died as a result of a lack of concern for patient safety," said Nessel.

"My department looks forward in taking the next steps to seek justice for the victims and their families."

In March 2017, Cadden was convicted by a federal jury of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud and introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud and mislead, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office-District of Massachusetts.

At the time, he was sentenced to 108 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and forfeiture and restitution in an amount to be determined later.

However, the federal government appealed the sentence, arguing it was too light. He was resentenced in 2021 to 14 years in prison and ordered to pay $82 million in restitution to victims.

Chin also had his sentence extended from eight to 10-and-a-half years in 2021, according to the Associated Press.