Tennessee Outbreak Suits Formally Settled

By Walter F. Roche Jt.

Lawyers for Tennessee victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak have agreed to formally dismiss their claims under a confidential settlement with two Nashville clinics and related parties.
In papers filed this week in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. lawyers for the victims and the clinics said all but two of the 106 who filed claims have been paid under the settlement terms.
Only technical paperwork will be needed to finalize the last two claims.
Among the defendants in the cases were the Howell Allen Clinic and the Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center, both in Nashville. Lawyers for the clinics declined to comment.
A joint four-page petition seeks the approval of senior U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel for the dismissals. Suits brought by Tennessee victims and some 20 other states were merged in Zobel's court in late 2013.
"This fully and finally resolves all claims against all defendants in the cases listed in the consent order," the filing states.
The outbreak, federal and state regulators agree, was caused by fungus laden methylprednisolone acetate shipped from the New England Compounding Center to clinics across the country.
Complaints filed in subsequent cases showed most of Tennessee victims had sought treatment for spinal and related problems at the Howell Allen Clinic. There doctors prescribed injections of methylprednisolone acetate to be administered at the Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center.
That center was owned in equal shares by Saint Thomas Health and the Howell Allen Clinic.
In addition to the clinics defendants included the doctor who administered the shots and related firms. The petition would resolve the claims against all defendants.
Though all parties have declined to discuss the terms of the settlement it is believed to be in excess of $20 million.
The 2012 outbreak sickened some 778 patients nationwide, killing at least 76 of them.
In addition to payments from the Nashville clinic settlements, victims also were eligible to collect payments from a national settlement fund established in the NECC bankruptcy.
The trustee of that fund reported this week that payments totaling nearly $150 million have been paid to a little over 2,000 victims.
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