Tech Discloses He Filled Steroid Vials

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Boston- A former pharmacy technician disclosed today that he was the employee primarily assigned to fill the vials of a spinal steroid that were eventually identified as the cause of a deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
The witness, who had been called to the stand by federal prosecutors Wednesday, was cross examined rigorously today by lawyers for his former colleagues who are on trial in U.S District Court on charges ranging from racketeering to mail fraud. The outbreak killed at least 76 patients including 16 in Tennessee.
The one time technician, Owen Finnegan, said he did not feel any guilt about his role and that he did not believe anything he did caused the outbreak. He did tells jurors he thinks about it daily.
Asked if he was the one who filled the specific three lots later identified as the outbreak cause, Finnegan said, "I don't know which they were." He did acknowledge he was "the primary filler" of the vials during the key time period.
It was Finnegan's second day on the stand and all but one of the six defense lawyers questioned him on his background and training and even on something he posted on his Instagram account on his way to the courthouse.
That message, which Finnegan did not dispute, was displayed in court, along with the face page of his account: "One day when this is all over, I'll have a story to tell and no one will believe it."
Recounting the day, Oct. 3, 2012, when the New England Compounding Center shut down, Finnegan said it was during a meeting in the company lunch room that he and his colleagues were warned that regulators were on their way and they were to say nothing to the media.
Though Finnegan said it was co-defendant Gregory Conigliaro who reminded employees of company confidentiality agreements, Paul Kelly, the lawyer for one of the defendants, suggested it was Barry Cadden, the president of NECC who already has been convicted of related charges, who told employees to keep quiet.
"No," Finnegan responded when asked if he recalled that it actually was Cadden who actually delivered the message.
Under further questioning by Kelly, Finnegan said, he took over the role of filling vials of methylprednisolone acetate in 2011 when another technician quit. He acknowledged he remained in that role until NECC's final shutdown.
Finnegan, who now works as a salesman for a computer company, said he placed the steroid in vials after it had been prepared by Glenn Chin, a supervising pharmacist, with the assistance of another technician. Chin, who like Cadden was convicted of racketeering and related charges, is now serving an eight year federal prison sentence.
Finnegan agreed that the vast majority of his work as a pharmacy technician was reviewed by Chin with the remainder reviewed by one of the three licensed pharmacists now on trial.
In questioning Finnegan about his Instagram account posting, Kelly charged that the message was attached to a picture taken through his car windshield while traveling to the courthouse.
"You sent this photograph while driving," Kelly said, adding that another posting stated, "Time to thin the heard (cq)."
Though Finnegan insisted he was referring to the heavy traffic, Kelly suggested he was referring to a plan to turn on his former NECC colleagues.
Kelly then questioned the witness about his divorce and a court order attaching his pay to recoup past due child support payments. Finnegan did not dispute the court order though Assistant U.S. Attorney George Varghese entered another in a series of objections to Kelly's questions.
Citing Finnegan's purchase of a new Toyota Tundra, Kelly said, "So you decided to buy a new truck instead of paying child support."
Finnegan said his father helped with the truck purchase.
While Finnegan said Chin was a competent pharmacist, he said his supervisor lacked people skills and, he agreed, was at times a bully.
As for his other NECC colleagues, Finnegan said defendant Gene Svirskiy was "one of the most intelligent people I've ever met, while another defendant, Joseph Evanosky never engaged in the verbal and physical horseplay that predominated in their workplace.
Asked if he always performed his duties, including the cleaning of his and other work areas, Finnegan answered, "I did what was asked of me."
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