$21+ million Paid to 2012 Outbreak Victims

UPDATED 1/11/19

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The Massachusetts Attorney General has now distributed more than $21.125 million to victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak from a $40 million allocation provided under a grant from the U.S Justice Department.
A spokeswoman for the agency said today that the grants were distributed to more than 600 victims who filled out applications by a Dec. 31 deadline.
The spokeswoman said the agency still will review and consider additional applications but all funds must be obligated by a Sept. 30 2019 deadline. Any amounts remaining by the deadline will go back to the federal government.
The funding was provided by the federal agency under a program established to give assistance to crime victims. The award came following a lobbying campaign spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop, a Michigan Republican whose district was particularly hard hit by the outbreak.
Latest figures from federal prosecutors show the outbreak, caused by drugs contaminated with deadly fungi sickened nearly 800 victims, including over 100 who died. In addition to Michigan, states hard hit by the outbreak include Indiana, Virginia and Tennessee.
The outbreak, with victims in some 20 states, was caused by contaminated drugs shipped from the now defunct New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. Two officials of that company, Barry J. Cadden and Glenn A. Chin are now serving federal prison sentences following their conviction on racketeering, mail fraud and related charges. Cadden was president and part owner while Chin was a supervising pharmacist.
Late last year the same two were charged with 11 counts of second degree murder in papers filed in circuit court in Livingson County Michigan. They are scheduled to be arraigned March 1.
The new Michigan charges followed a lengthy probe by then Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, whose term expired earlier this month. His successor, Dana Nissel, is now involved in making arrangement for the two to be brought to Michigan for the arraignments
The Massachusetts attorney general already has extended the deadline for grant applicants several times, but a spokeswoman said applications submitted following the Dec. 31 deadline still will be reviewed but all funds must be obligated by the September deadline. The application is available at: https://www.mass.gov/mass-necc-program.
The award for most victims will be $25,000 but Healey aides say those who suffered a permanent impairment and the survivors of victims who died as a result of the outbreak can qualify for a second $25,000 grant. The impairment must be verified by a physician.
The spokeswoman for Attorney General Maura Healey said that the agency, working with federal prosecutors, has made multiple efforts to contact all possible claimants including sending letters emails and making phone calls. She said additional payments are slated to be mailed out next week.
The spokeswoman said her office will continue ongoing outreach and will review and make payments for as long as they are able to do so.
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