4th NECC Trial Delayed a Month

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The trial of the two final defendants in the probe of a rogue Massachusetts drug compounding firm has been pushed back by a little over a month by the federal judge presiding over the case.
In a two-page order issued today in U.S. District Court in Boston Mass. U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns set an April 29 date for the trial of two former employees of the now defunct New England Compounding Center. Kathy S. Chin and Michelle L. Thomas were licensed pharmacists working at NECC. The jury trial was initially set for March 25.
The two were among 14 NECC connected defendants indicted in late 2014 following a two year probe of the fungal meningitis outbreak, which was caused by fungus riddled spinal steroids shipped from NECC to dozens of health providers across the country. Federal officials now say more than 100 patients injected with NECC's methylprednisolone acetate have died.
Though they were not involved in producing the deadly steroids, Thomas and Chin face multiple charges of violating the federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The two were assigned to give a final check of drugs produced at NECC and shipped across the country. According to the indictment the two approved for shipment drugs prescribed for plainly fictitious patients, including Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.
Stearns initially dismissed the charges against the two, concluding that their tasks were largely clerical, but an appeals court reversed him and reinstated the charges.
Stearns order also sets an April 15 deadline for a series of pre-trial tasks to be completed including a list of witnesses prosecutors plan to call for testimony.
Among the 14 indicted were Glen Chin and Barry Cadden who are already serving prison sentences following their conviction on racketeering and mail fraud charges. The two also are facing second degree murder charges in Michigan brought by the state Attorney General. (Glenn Chin is the husband of Kathy Chin)
Cadden was president and part owner of NECC while Chin was a supervisory pharmacist in the clean room where the tainted steroids were prepared. Two separate federal juries acquitted the two on 25 counts of racketeering/second degree murder charges.
The two were brought to Michigan recently for arraignment on 11 counts each of second degree murder. They are expected to be returned to federal prisons in Pennsylvania this week. Chin is serving an eight year sentence, while Cadden has a nine year sentence.
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