Official Opposes California Meningitis Claim

By Walter F. Roche Jr.



Calling the request "grossly late," an official in the administration of the liquidation plan for a defunct drug compounding firm is asking the court to reject a claim filed in behalf of a California woman who claims to be a victim of a nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak.
In a filing made this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Massachusetts, the attorney for Paul D. Moore said the California woman had been informed of a Jan. 15, 2014 deadline for filing a claim in the bankruptcy of the New England Compounding Center.
Citing records documenting the mailing of notices, Moore said the woman and her husband "were properly served with notice."
The admittedly late claim was filed in behelf of Lidia Tashima,  who said she had received an injection of fungus tainted steroid at the Sequoia Orthopaedic and Spine Center in Visalia, Calif. on Aug. 9, 2012.
Her claim is one of more than 3,200 filed against NECC after the Framingham, Mass. firm was blamed for a nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis that sickened 778 patients across the country, killing 76 of them.
Moore, who now has the title of "post conformation officer," previously served as trustee in the bankruptcy case.
Tashima had stated in court papers that she never had received notice of the deadline and asked that her claim be allowed despite the long past deadline.
But Moore, through his attorney, said Tashima had offered no evidence to refute the presumption that she was notified. The notification, according to the filings, was given on Oct. 16, 2013. Moore also noted that allowing Tashima's claim would mean that there would be that much less available for the thousands who filed their claims by the deadline.
In a related action this week the company hired to handle administrative duties during the bankruptcy, Donlin and Recano, submitted a claim for administrative expenses totaling $65, 203.
Dozens of additional claims are expected to be filed including attorneys fees.
Some $200 to $220 million is expected to be available for payments to victims of the
outbreak.
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