Medical Testimony in Chin, Cadden Case

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

NOTE: This report is based on accounts provided by local news sources and victims, including Donna Borton who attended a hearing today in Livingston County District Court.

An infectious disease expert testified today about how fungus contaminated steroids attacked the brains of victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
Speaking at a pre-trial hearing in the second degree murder cases of Barry J. Cadden and Glenn A. Chin, Dr Carol Kauffman said that when fungus laden steroids are injected into the spinal cavity the result can be meningitis, strokes and even localized infections.
Kauffman, who became directly involved in the early investigation of the 2012 outbreak, said the infected steroids came in several lots shipped by the New England Compounding Center, the defunct company where Cadden and Chin worked.
She said an NECC lot of methylprednisolone acetate dated June 29 was especially virulent. NECC drugs eventually sickened some 800 patients including dozens who died.
Cadden was president and a major stockholder in NECC while Chin was a supervising pharmacist in the clean room where the steroids were made.
Kauffman noted in her testimony that NECC was located adjacent to a recycling business. It was owned by Gregory Conigliaro, who was also a part owner of NECC. Defense attorneys tried unsuccessfully to block testimony about the recycling center.
Also testifying at the probable cause hearing was Dr. Edward Washabaugh who was one of the Michigan physicians who unwittingly injected patients of Michigan Pain Specialists with NECC drugs. Seventeen Michigan Pain Specialists patients ultimately died.
Washabaugh was also a witness in Cadden's federal trial in U.S. District Court in Boston.
Cadden is now serving a nine year federal prison sentence following his conviction on racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud charges.
Chin was also convicted on parallel federal charges and is serving an eight year federal jail sentence. However, two separate federal juries declined to convict Cadden or Chin on second degree murder charges including some of the 11 they are now charged with in Michigan. Three of the eleven victims in the Michigan case, were not named as victims in the federal case.
Chin and Cadden, both wearing orange jump suits, sat in the courtroom yesterday during the day long session. Both were brought to Howell late last week from separate federal prisons in Pennsylvania.
A third witness to appear Thursday was Dr. Bader Cassin, who performed autopsies on some of the victims and described the fatal damage caused by the tainted drugs.
An employee of Michigan Pain Specialists testified about how the clinic came to order drugs from NECC and the apparent lack of notification by NECC when problems with their drugs first surfaced.
Lawyers for Cadden moved to have their client released from handcuffs, but the motion was denied.