Final Rulings Issued Before Cadden Trial

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

With jury selection set to begin in just days, a federal judge has ruled on a series of last minute motions in the trial on murder charges of the chief pharmacist for the company blamed for a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak.
U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled that prosecutors cannot present evidence on a decade old case in which a patient died after being injected with a drug produced by the New England Compounding Center.
Prosecutors wanted to present details of the death in the upcoming trial of Barry Cadden, the part-owner and chief pharmacist for NECC. Jury selection in his second degree murder case is scheduled to begin Wednesday in Stearns' Boston, Mass. courtroom.
Barred by Stearns ruling are details of the 2004 death of New York resident William Koch who succumbed following an injection of a steroid produced by NECC. Koch's family later sued NECC and the case was settled out of court.
Stearns concluded the Koch case was too old and the details too inconclusive to be presented to jurors considering the 25 counts of second degree murder against Cadden.
The 25 victims were among at least 77 who died in the outbreak caused by fungus ridden methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) shipped by NECC to health providers in some 20 states.
Cited by Stearns in the Koch ruling was "the lack of conclusive evidence that the death at issue was caused by contaminated MPA, the absence of any finding or admission of liability" and the lack of any allegation against Cadden personally
In other rulings Stearns granted an extension till Wednesday for Cadden's lawyer to file proposed jury instructions and agreed that prosecutors will not be allowed to present evidence of Cadden's wealth, though they will be allowed to detail Cadden's ownership interest in NECC.
He also granted Cadden's motion to file some unspecified evidence under seal.
The 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak sickened some 778 patients, including the 77 that died.
Cadden is one of 14 NECC connected individuals named in a 2014 indictment by a federal grand jury following a two year federal investigation of the deadly outbreak. Two of the 14 have entered guilty pleas to reduced charges, while two others had charges dismissed.
Glenn Chin, who was a supervisory pharmacist at NECC, is scheduled to go on trial when Cadden's case is completed. Like Cadden he is facing racketeering and second degree murder charges.
The eight remaining defendants will face trial when Chin's case is completed.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Victims Awaiting Word on Trial Attendance

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

With time running out victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak are awaiting word on whether they will be able to attend the upcoming criminal trials of employees and owners of the shuttered drug compounding firm blamed for the deadly outbreak.
The trial of Barry Cadden, the chief pharmacist and part owner of the New England Compounding Center, is set to begin with jury selection on Jan. 4. Opening arguments have been set for Jan. 9.
Cadden is facing multiple charges of second degree murder along with racketeering and other charges.
Co-defendant Glenn Chin, who also faces 25 second degree murder charges, will go on trial as soon as the Cadden trial is completed. Both trials will take place in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass.
The U.S. Attorney's office has contacted victims or victims' survivors and asked them to fill out a questionnaire indicating whether they want to attend the trial. The victims and survivors are spread out over some 20 states.
The questionnaire states that the trial is estimated to run three to four months and indicates there may be a limit on the number of days victims will be able to attend. Other questions include whether or not the victim will be attending alone or with a relative or support person.
The questionnaire was sent out before U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns granted a motion by Cadden to sever his trial from Chin's.
Initially the office had indicated victims had the option of witnessing the trial in person or on closed circuit television in a local federal court house. More recently, however, victims were informed that the closed circuit option would not be available.
In the latest communication victims were told a decision would be made soon on how many could attend and how long they would be able to do so. Travel and accommodations will be paid for by the government.
Another question for victims is whether or not they'll be allowed to attend both the Cadden and Chin trials.
A third trial for the remaining eight defendants is set for early April.
Cadden's trial is likely to be shorter as his attorney has stated he will not dispute the prosecution's claim that drugs shipped from NECC caused the death and illnesses. Chin, meanwhile, has stated that he only recently learned that Cadden plans to blame him, and him alone, for the shipment of fungus loaded steroids.
The 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak sickened some 778 patients. At least 77 of them died.
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Judge Denies Cadden Dismissal Motion

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns has denied a last minute dismissal motion on second degree murder charges filed in behalf of Barry Cadden, the former part owner of a drug company blamed for a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak.
In an order issued in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. Stearns concluded that the indictment of Cadden "states the essential elements of second degree murder."
Bruce A. Singal, Cadden's attorney, filed the dismissal motion earlier this month. Cadden is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 4 on charges including 25 counts of second degree murder. Singal had argued there was insufficient evidence to prove the murder allegations.
He also had asked Stearns, for a second time, to force the U.S. Attorney to disclose the specific instructions prosecutors gave to the grand jury that issued the indictment in late 2014.
"There is no potential deficiency with the legal instructions to the grand jury that cannot be cured at trial," Stearns added.
The judge, in a separate brief decision, defended a recent decision separating the trials of Cadden and codefendant Glenn Chin, who also faces the second degree murder charges.
Stearns wrote that the severance order will stand, citing the competing defenses raised by the two defendants. He said that a decision on what evidence of the deaths will be allowed at trial could be addressed either at trial or by a motion to limit the death evidence.
Cadden previously agreed to stipulate that the 25 deaths were caused by the injection of those patients with drugs produced at the New England Compounding Center, the entity blamed by health regulators for the outbreak.
He also deferred action on a motion by prosecutors to block from the Cadden trial evidence of a settlement of civil suits brought by outbreak victims. Cadden and other former owners of NECC contributed nearly $50 million to that settlement.
"The court is not certain, in any event, what use defendant would have for the evidence as it might otherwise tend to imply an admission of guilt," Stearns concluded.
Chin's trial is set to begin as soon as Cadden's is completed. Other NECC defendants are scheduled for trial in April.
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Judge Denies Cadden Dismissal Motion

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns has denied a last minute dismissal motion on second degree murder charges filed in behalf of Barry Cadden, the former part owner of a drug company blamed for a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak.
In an order issued in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. Stearns concluded that the indictment of Cadden "states the essential elements of second degree murder."
Bruce A. Singal, Cadden's attorney, filed the dismissal motion earlier this month. Cadden is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 4 on charges including 25 counts of second degree murder. Singal had argued there was insufficient evidence to prove the murder allegations.
He also had asked Stearns, for a second time, to force the U.S. Attorney to disclose the specific instructions prosecutors gave to the grand jury that issued the indictment in late 2014.
"There is no potential deficiency with the legal instructions to the grand jury that cannot be cured at trial," Stearns added.
The judge, in a separate brief decision, defended a recent decision separating the trials of Cadden and codefendant Glenn Chin, who also faces the second degree murder charges.
Stearns wrote that the severance order will stand, citing the competing defenses raised by the two defendants. He said that a decision on what evidence of the deaths will be allowed at trial could be addressed either at trial or by a motion to limit the death evidence.
Cadden previously agreed to stipulate that the 25 deaths were caused by the injection of those patients with drugs produced at the New England Compounding Center, the entity blamed by health regulators for the outbreak.
He also deferred action on a motion by prosecutors to block from the Cadden trial evidence of a settlement of civil suits brought by outbreak victims. Cadden and other former owners of NECC contributed nearly $50 million to that settlement.
"The court is not certain, in any event, what use defendant would have for the evidence as it might otherwise tend to imply an admission of guilt," Stearns concluded.
Chin's trial is set to begin as soon as Cadden's is completed. Other NECC defendants are scheduled for trial in April.
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Key NECC Defendant Enters Guilty Plea

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A key figure in the investigation of a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak has entered a guilty plea and has agreed to give critical testimony in upcoming trials against his former colleagues.
The guilty plea to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was entered by Robert Ronzio, 42, the former national sales manager for the New England Compounding Center, the company that shipped thousands of vials of steroids laden with deadly fungus.
Ronzio, a North Providence, R.I. resident, admitted to working with other sales staffers to create phony lists of patients who supposedly had been issued valid prescriptions for the steroids NECC was shipping to health facilities across the country.
"Specifically Ronzio admitted that NECC sales representatives requested that customers send in a list of patient names with their orders," federal prosecutors said in announcing the plea deal.
The ruse was designed "to make it appear to federal and state regulators that NECC was dispensing drugs pursuant to valid patient-specific prescriptions when in fact it was not."
Evidence produced in related civil cases showed that the patient names submitted by one clinic included "Donald Duck"
Ronzio's plea was entered before U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns who set a Sept. 27 date for sentencing. The maximum sentence for the single charge is five years and a fine of $250,000, but prosecutors have agreed to recommend a lighter sentence dependent on Ronzio's continued cooperation.
 Ronzio's scheduled sentencing will be well after nine other defendants, including Barry Cadden and Glenn Chin, will have faced trial. Cadden is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 4 on charges including 25 counts of second degree murder. Chin's trial on the same murder charges will begin as soon as Cadden's ends.
The 2012 outbreak sickened 778 patients killing at least 77 of them.
According to prosecutors Ronzio has admitted that Cadden, the chief pharmacist and part owner of NECC created ratios of patient names to match the number of doses being shipped to specific customers.
"The MAX total number of units per patient must make sense," Cadden told Ronzio, according to prosecutors, adding "I must be able to logically explain to a regulator why we processed X# of units per patient."
"Ronzio admitted the reason for these work-around methods was to maintain NECC's status as a pharmacy and avoid heightened regulatory oversight of the FDA," prosecutors stated, adding that NECC was actually acting as a drug manufacturer.
Ronzio, Cadden and Chin were among 14 named in a 131 count indictment issued by a federal grand jury in late 2014 following a two year federal probe. According to the indictment Ronzio sent an email to sales staffers at an affiliated company, Medical Sales Management, warning them to avoid using certain terms that would trigger federal charges.
In one email, entitled "HUUUUUUGGE IMPORTANCE," Ronzio wrote, "Do not give ratios. It's the wrong thing to say period!!!! I cannot stress this enough to all of you. Its (cq) will be a fatal error for you."
Two of the 14 defendants recently entered guilty pleas to reduced charges. Two others had charges dismissed. Besides Cadden and Chin, the remaining defendants are scheduled for trial in April.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Judge Approves Payment of Legal Fees

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A federal judge has approved the payment of legal fees and expenses totaling $6.25 million for a group of lawyers who represented victims of the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
In a two-page order issued Monday U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel approved the compromise payment request that was hammered out during a Dec. 8 session in her Boston, Mass. courtroom. Under that compromise the attorneys will get only 50 per cent of the originally requested amount of $12.5 million.
Zobel had suggested the 50 per cent figure after lawyers for some of the victims raised questions about lawyers getting all of their fees while victims were only getting half of what they eventually expect to collect.
The payments will come from a trust fund estimated to range from $130 million to $157 million that was amassed in the bankruptcy of the New England Compounding Center, the defunct company blamed for the outbreak that took the lives of 77 people.
Zobel's order authorizes the trustee of the fund, Lynne F. Riley, to distribute the lawyers' payments only if "all or virtually" all of the initial payments have been made to qualified victims. Outbreak victims had to submit documentation by a Dec. 15 deadline in order to be assured payment before the end of the calendar year.
The lawyers getting paid from a so-called common benefit fund were credited with doing work that benefited all the victims of the meningitis outbreak.
According to a report from Riley filed Dec. 8, payments had been made to 462 victims. Another 28 had been finally approved for a total of 490. A total of 2,340 claims were filed but 177 of them had been finally rejected. She reported that 1,981 had been fully or partially approved.
The average payment for the 462 who had received checks was $15,828.64. The payments to victims as of that date totaled $7.3 million.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Judge Sets Dates in NECC Criminal Case

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Opening arguments in the murder case against Barry Cadden, part owner of a defunct drug company, are tentatively scheduled for Jan. 9 in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass.
In a recent order U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns also set aside three days, Jan. 4-6, for jury selection in the case.
In addition Stearns has ruled that the trial of Cadden's co-defendant, Glenn Chin, will follow immediately after the Cadden case has concluded.
The scheduling order follows Stearns decision last week to grant the two defendants separate trials.
Cadden's lawyer, Bruce A. Singal, requested that the two cases be severed in a sealed motion.
In his decision Stearns cited the conflicting strategies of the two, both facing 25 counts of second degree murder among other charges.
Cadden and Chin are among 14 indicted in late 2014 following a two year investigation of a fungal meningitis outbreak that sickened 778 patients in some 20 states. At least 77 of them died.
Cadden, through his lawyer, has conceded that 25 of those deaths were caused by doses of methylprednisolone acetate shipped from the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. State and federal officials concluded the vials of the steroid were infested with fungus due to unsanitary conditions at NECC.
Cadden, however, has indicated he intends to blame Chin  and others for the deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis.
Stearns cited the "antagonistic defenses" as a factor leading to his reluctant decision to split the two cases.
Cadden was a party owner of NECC, while Chin was a supervising pharmacist.
Two of the remaining defendants have entered guilty pleas to reduced charges, while two others had charges dismissed.
The remaining defendants are scheduled for trial in April.
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Judge Agrees To Sever Cadden, Chin Trials

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Calling it a rare case in which antagonistic defenses requires a separation, a federal judge has ruled that the two main defendants in the criminal case stemming from a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak will have separate back-to-back trials.
In a three-page decision issued today U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ordered that Barry Cadden will go on trial beginning Jan. 4 on 25 counts of second degree murder, while Glenn Chin, who is facing the same charges, will face trial immediately afterwards.
The severance request by Cadden's lawyer, Bruce A. Singal, was filed under seal, but a subsequent court hearing and filings that were never sealed make it clear that Cadden plans to blame Chin for the 2012 outbreak which killed 77 patients across the country.
"The motion to sever is allowed, albeit reluctantly," Stearns wrote, adding that his decision would mean there will be three separate trials stemming from the 2014 indictment. Cadden, Chin and the other defendants were employees or part owners of the New England Compounding Center, the Framingham, Mass. company blamed for the outbreak.
"This is one of the rare cases in which antagonistic defenses coupled with an imbalance of evidence, require the severance of the trials of Barry Cadden and codefendant Glenn Chin," Stearns wrote noting that "as a rule severance is not favored when two defendants are charged together with the same crimes."
Cadden, then a licensed pharmacist, was an officer and part-owner of NECC, while Chin was a supervising pharmacist.
Stearns said his concerns over the conflicting defense strategies was heightened "by the prejudicial effect  of the introduction of causation evidence related to the often agonizing deaths" of the 25 deceased victims.
"The defense strategy convinces me that there is a serious risk that a joint trial would compromise a specific trial right of one of the defendants or prevent the jury from making a reliable judgment about guilt or innocence," Stearns concluded.
In addition to Cadden and Chin, eight other defendants are scheduled to go on trial in early April. Two others already pleaded guilty to reduced charges while two defendants had charges dismissed.
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Key Defendant Files 11th Hour Dismissal Motion

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Acting at the 11th hour, a key defendant in the criminal case stemming from a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak, is asking a judge, once again, to dismiss 25 counts of second degree murder.
Acknowledging that the deadline for such motions has long since passed, the lawyer for Barry Cadden is charging that the murder counts in the 2014 indictment are fatally defective because they fail to show that Cadden caused any of the 25 deaths.
In a two-page motion and a 13-page memorandum, attorney Bruce A. Singal also is repeating an already rejected request to force prosecutors to disclose the instructions given to the grand jury that indicted Cadden and 13 others in late 2014.
Cadden and co-defendant Glenn Chin are scheduled to go on trial Jan. 5 on the second degree murder charges. Cadden was a part owner and Chin a supervising pharmacist at the New England Compounding Center, the firm that shipped thousands of vials of fungus riddled steroids to health facilities across the country.
In the motion filed today, Cadden contends that it is Chin who should be held liable, not him.
"For each of the three lots (of drugs) at issue, it is Chin rather than Cadden who is alleged to have performed unlawful  acts," the motion states.
In addition the indictment, the motion states, does not properly allege the core elements of a second degree murder case."
 The motion contends that the facts cited in the indictment about long term problems at the New England Compounding Center, refute the contention that Cadden was "reasonably certain" that the three deadly lot of methylprednisolone acetate would kill anyone. Despite the long term poor conditions there had been no prior deaths, Singal argued.
The motion comes as U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns is considering a motion to separate the trials of Cadden and Chin. He previously denied a motion to dismiss the murder charges. He also denied a motion to force prosecutors to provide copies of their grand jury instructions.
Two other defendants have entered guilty pleas to reduced charges. Two others have had charges dismissed. The remaining defendants are scheduled to go on trial in April.
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Revised NECC Lawyers' Fee Motion Filed

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A revised motion that would authorize payment of some $6.25 million in lawyers' fees and expenses by the end of the calendar year was filed today in the federal court case stemming from the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
Under the motion the payment of the fees and expenses would be contingent on the payment of partial claims to all or virtually all of the outbreak victims who provide needed information by a Dec. 15 deadline.
The payment of only half of the $12.5 million in fees and expenses had been suggested as a compromise by U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel during a hearing last week in her Boston, Mass. courtroom.
The fees and expenses would go to law firms who did work benefiting all of the victims of the outbreak whose claims can be verified.
According to a report filed last week payments have been approved for 462 of more than 2,000 victims. The payments represent about 50 percent of what victims can expect to receive from a fund totaling between $130 and $157 million.
 The 2012 outbreak caused by fungus laden drugs shipped from a now defunct Framingham, Mass. drug compounding firm sickened some 778 patients, killing at least 77 of them.
The legal fees and victims' payments are coming from a fund amassed in the bankruptcy of NECC.
In a parallel criminal case, two NECC officials are scheduled to go on trial in early January on second degree murder and related charges. Other NECC owners and employees are scheduled for an April trial.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Judge Mulls Motion to Sever NECC Criminal Cases

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The two key defendants in the criminal case stemming from a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak could be tried separately under a sealed motion now being considered by a federal judge.
Records in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. show a motion was filed to have Barry Cadden and Glenn Chin tried separately. Cadden and Chin are facing 25 counts of second degree murder under an indictment issued nearly two years ago.
The two are scheduled to be tried together in early January before U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns.
Though the two had agreed to a joint trial, papers filed recently by Chin's lawyer, charge that Chin had only recently learned that Cadden planned to blame him and him alone for the deaths.
Earlier this week Cadden's lawyers filed a motion to sever the two cases, but the motion was filed under seal.
After a hearing today, Stearns took the matter under advisement.
Chin and Cadden were among 14 people connected to the New England Compounding Center to be indicted following a two year probe of the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. Two defendants already have entered guilty pleas to vastly reduced charges. Two others had charges dismissed.
The remaining defendants are scheduled to go on trial in April.
The outbreak sickened 778 patients who were injected with fungus laden methylprednisolone acetate, shipped in thousands of vials from NECC's Framingham, Mass. facility to health providers across the country.
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Checks Mailed to 462 Outbreak Victims

 Average payment corrected


By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The trustee of a national fund to pay victims of the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak has issued checks to 462 of 2,340 who filed claims, according to a report filed today in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass.
The total value of the issued checks, according to Lynne Riley, the trustee, is $7.3 million. An additional 28 victims have been cleared for payment and checks are being issued to them, pushing the total number of checks to 490.
According to the data provided the average payment thus far was  $15,828.64. The payments represent about half of what each victim can expect to receive when all of the funds are disbursed.
In a hearing today before U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel, Thomas Sobol, the lead attorney for plaintiffs, said 177 claims have been finally denied, while 1,981 have been either fully or partially approved. A small number of claims are still under appeal,
He said further information is needed for some of the remaining claims and if victims respond by Dec. 15, they can expect checks by the end of the year,
The victims' fund has been estimated to total $130 million to $157 million. It was amassed during the bankruptcy of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak which sickened 778 patients, killing 77 of them.
Nashville, Tenn. attorney Mark Chalos reported that all victims with claims against the Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center have agreed to accept a negotiated settlement. He said an administrator has been hired and payments are expected to go out early next year.
The amount of that settlement has not been made public but is believed to be in excess of $20 million.
Zobel also got updates on the status of claims from victims in New Jersey, Maryland and Minnesota.
Sobol also presented a defense of the payment of $12.5 million in legal fees and expenses to lawyers who performed work in the case benefiting all of the victims. His motion called for those fees to be paid by the end of the year.
But George Nolan, a Nashville, Tenn. lawyer, cited long delays and complicated filing requirements that were delaying payments to many victims including clients of his firm. He said the fact that lawyers would be getting full payments while victims continued to wait was causing "a great deal of controversy" among many victims.
Zobel then proposed a compromise under which lawyers would get half of their fees by the end of the year, with the other half to be distributed sometime next year.
Sobol agreed to draw up a motion to implement her suggestion.

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Fungal Infections

http://www.medicaldaily.com/deadly-fungal-infections-what-they-do-and-how-your-body-fights-them-405729

Prosecutors Detail NECC Murder Charge Evidence

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Two former officials of the New England Compounding Center showed a "wanton and willful disregard for human life" that directly caused the death of 25 victims, federal prosecutors charged in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass.
In an eight-page filing today, Assistant U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb wrote that the conditions inside NECC's Framingham, Mass. facility were so bad that one public health official called it "a fungal zoo."
Bacteria and multiple forms of fungus were still found by federal inspectors in so-called clean rooms even after an "extraordinary" two-day clean up attempt by NECC staffers and a private contracting firm.
Four types of fungus were found in 150 patients injected with NECC drugs, the prosecutors charged, adding that drugs that were supposed to be sterile were produced with unsterile and expired components.
The filing comes as the two former NECC officials, Barry Cadden and Glen Chin, are just a month away from trial on 25 counts of second degree murder, racketeering and conspiracy. Weinreb urged U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to reject a motion by the two defendants to hold a court hearing to force prosecutors to provide additional evidence to justify the 25 murder counts.
The two were indicted following a federal grand jury probe of the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak caused by fungus ridden drugs from NECC. Cadden was a part owner and chief pharmacist for NECC and Chin was a supervising pharmacist.
Earlier this week Stearns flatly rejected a request from Chin to delay his trial to early Spring.
Calling the motion for a hearing"a last ditch attempt to avoid judgment by their peers," the prosecution argued that no hearing was necessary and the charges should now go to a jury.
The evidence, the prosecutor stated, "will show that the defendants actions fell so far below the required standards of pharmacy care in producing these drugs that it was unconscionable that the defendants identified these drugs as sterile and dispensed them for use on patients."
In addition to the spinal steroid (methylprednisolone acetate) blamed for the deadly outbreak, prosecutors said federal investigators found 23 other species of fungus in other drugs produced by NECC including betamethasone, triamcinolone and cardioplegia
"This was not an unfortunate unexplainable tragedy, an accident or a mere coincidence as the defendants have stated in their various court filings in this case; this was second degree murder," the filing states.
Cited was a comment made by an NECC supervisor to a worker who had raised questions about the safety of the drugs being produced.
"You don't understand," the supervisor said. "You don't have money. When you have money, you always want more."
The actions by Cadden and Chin were "deliberate and intentional and prioritized profit over patient safety," the filing concludes.
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Motion To Delay NECC Criminal Trial Swiftly Denied

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Without a hearing or even waiting for federal prosecutors to respond, the judge presiding over the criminal trials stemming from a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak has denied a motion by a key defendant to delay his trial on murder charges for three months.
In a brief order issued today U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns denied the delay request filed by Glenn Chin, the former pharmacist who is facing 25 counts of second degree murder.
Chin, in a motion filed late last week, had cited the need to review reams of new documents provided by prosecutors and a repository of related documents from a civil case while his trial date was barely a month away.
Chin, through his lawyer, Stephen Weymouth, had also argued that his codefendant, Barry Cadden, had gained access to the civil suit documents years earlier, giving him an unfair advantage.
Stearns, however, noted that Cadden, who is also facing second degree murder charges, had no obligation to share evidence with a codefendant.
Chin and Cadden are two of 14 persons connected to the New England Compounding Pharmacy, the defunct Framingham, Mass. drug firm blamed for the 2012 nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak which sickened 778 patients across the country. At least 77 of those patients died.
Chin had also charged that he had only recently learned that Cadden, relying on evidence from the civil case, intended to place all the blame for the outbreak on him.
Stearns ruled that regardless of whether the evidence might reflect badly on Chin, Cadden was under no obligation to make Chin aware of it.
Unlike prosecutors, Stearns wrote, "Cadden has no corresponding duty to disclose materials on which he intends to rely in his own defense, even if these may to some extent reflect adversely on Chin."
In any case, Stearns concluded, "it is highly unlikely that the document repository in the parallel civil litigation includes anything that has not already been produced in the millions of documents turned over by the government."
Stearns decision means Cadden and Chin will go on trial as previously scheduled early next year.
In addition to the second degree murder charges the two are facing charges of racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud.
Cadden was a part owner and chief pharmacist for NECC, while Chin was a supervising pharmacist.
Two of the original 14 NECC defendants have pleaded guilty to reduced charges and avoided any jail time. Two others, including Chin's wife, have had all charges dismissed, but the U.S. Attorney has appealed that decision to the First Circuit Court of appeals.
The remaining defendants are scheduled for trial in April.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com