Holiday Travel OK'd for NECC Defendant

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Another defendant in the criminal case stemming from the deadly fungal meningitis outbreak has been given permission to travel outside the state of Massachusetts.
Scott M. Connolly, who is awaiting trial on racketeering and mail fraud charges has been granted permission to travel to the state of New York for a July 4 family event.
The permission to travel from July 2-4 was approved this week by U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns.
Connolly is one of 14 former owners and employees of the New England Compounding Center who were indicted in late 2014 following a more than two year federal probe.
Connolly, like the other defendants, has entered a not guilty plea. He is scheduled to go to trial in September.
NECC has been blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that sickened 778 patients, killing 77 of them.
Stearns also recently granted permission to two other NECC defendants, Carla and Douglas Conigliaro, to travel to Connecticut with their son for a sports camp at Yale University.
Connolly's motion to travel was not opposed by federal officials.
Connolly, Massachusetts records show, had surrendered his pharmacist technician license in 2008 after admitting that he had violated laws and regulations by shipping drugs to another state. He later tried to have his license restored, but the state Board of Pharmacy never granted his request.
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Trustee Describes NECC Payments

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The trustee for the fund that will pay awards to the victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak says most of the money spent thus far has gone to a firm hired to handle and process claims.
Lynne F. Riley said today that most of the $253,045.37 went to Epiq, the company handling claims filed by victims of the outbreak.
She said that a $10,400 payment was a quarterly payment to the U.S. Trustee overseeing the bankruptcy.
Riley said she is currently preparing an annual report which will include a detailed accounting of receipts and expenditures.
The fund Riley is overseeing was created under the bankruptcy of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the outbreak.
According to court testimony initial payments to victims are expected in August.
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NECC Trustee Files Report on Payments

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The trustee overseeing the payment of awards to victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak has filed a brief report stating that $253,045.37 was paid from a trust during the month of May.
The report comes as victims of the outbreak are anxiously awaiting word of when they might receive long promised checks from a $200 million trust fund created under the bankruptcy of the New England Compounding Center.
Lynne F. Riley, who was appointed to oversee the trust, also reported that a quarterly administrative fee of $10,400 had been paid.
Although the report states that all disbursements must be fully accounted for, the report provides no details on who got the $253,045.27. It was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boston, Mass. late last week.
Riley did not respond to an email request for details on the disbursements.
The report does say that the trust is expected to be closed by December of 2017.
At a recent hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass. an attorney for victims, Thomas Sobol, told U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel that the first checks to victims were expected to be mailed out in August.
The outbreak, caused by fungus tainted drugs from NECC, became public in the fall of 2012. It sickened 778 patients and killed 77 of them, with the latest death coming in March.
Riley's report indicates that all the money generated from the NECC bankruptcy has yet to be transferred to the trust fund.
Among anticipated events the report lists ,"transfer of remaining funds to tort trust."
And though the form states that it is a monthly report, no prior reports have been filed in the case.
Victims have received notices from Riley's office telling them how much of an award they can expect based on the severity of the illnesses they suffered.
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Victims Angered By Cadden's Release from Home Detention

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak took special pains to let a court official know how much they opposed the possible release from home detention of a man charged with 25 counts of second degree murder in connection with the outbreak.
So their anger was no surprise when they learned Saturday that a federal magistrate in Boston, Mass. had, late on a Friday, granted Barry Cadden's motion to be allowed to leave his Wrentham, Mass. home for 12 hours per day.
"My 85 year old mother is prisoner in a hospital bed.  Now the man that put her there can enjoy his 'good life' again, " Kathy Pugh wrote in an email.  "There is no reason for him to be out."
Pugh's mother was one of the Michigan victims of the 2012 fungal menngitis outbreak blamed on the New England Compounding Center, owned by Cadden and his in-laws.
Other victims, citing the order from Magistrate Judge Jennifer C. Boal, said the court appeared to only be concerned with the rights of the defendant and not the victims.
Boal concluded that Cadden had strong family and community ties and thus did not pose a threat of flight before his upcoming Jan. 5, 2017 trial.
She noted that a previous order had rejected a move by federal prosecutors to have him jailed until his trial.
"The conditions of release can not be excessive in relation to their purpose," Boal wrote in the four-page order.
She noted that Cadden's $500,000 bail and electronic monitoring would remain in place.
"This for me was the last straw," wrote Jona Angst, another victim commenting on Boal's decision.
"Just victimizing the victim again."
 "We are losing everything and I physically and mentally can't take anymore," she added.
Another victim noted that because of their continuing ill health many of the victims are, like Pugh's mother, still prisoners in their homes or hospitals.
Cadden was one of 14 owners or former employees of NECC indicted by a federal grand jury in late 2014 following a two year investigation of the deadly outbreak. He had remained under detention in his home sine shortly after the indictment.
Cadden and all the other defendants have entered not guilty pleas to all the charges which include mail and wire fraud in addition to the second degree murder charges against Cadden and one other defendant.
Federal officials say the now defunct NECC shipped thousands of fungus tainted vials of methylprednisolone acetate into the spines and joints of unsuspecting patients across the country. The outbreak sickened 778 patients killing 77 of them, according to the latest count.
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Cadden Freed from Home Detention

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Over the strong objections of victims of a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak, a federal magistrate has released from home detention a Massachusetts man charged with 25 counts of second degree murder.
In a four page order dated Friday, Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal granted Barry Cadden's motion to be freed from home detention.
"Cadden is entitled to a presumption of innocence," Boal wrote.
"The court finds that a curfew with location monitoring in combination with other conditions of release reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant," she added.
Her decision comes despite strong objections from federal prosecutors and victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that sickened 778 people killing 77 of them.
The order allows Cadden to leave his Wrentham, Mass. home from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Cadden was one of 14 owners and employees of the New England Compounding Center the company blamed for the outbreak. NECC shipped thousands of vials of fungus laden spinal steroids to health care providers in more than 20 states.
In her ruling Boal said Cadden "has strong family and community ties."
"The court recognizes the seriousness of the alleged offenses and the great harm the victims have suffered. However, at this stage of the proceedings Cadden is entitled to a presumption of innocence," Boal wrote.
Cadden is scheduled to go on trial on Jan. 5, 2017. In requesting the reduced restrictions, Cadden cited family duties and the need to confer on short notice with his legal team.
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Maryland Clinic Meningitis Cases Stay in Boston

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A federal judge has ruled that nine suits filed against a Maryland clinic by victims of a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak will remain in her Boston, Mass. courtroom.
In a brief order issued today U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel ruled that the suits against the Box Hill Surgery Center in Abingdon, Md. will proceed to trial in Boston.
Lawyers for the clinic had asked to have the cases sent back to Maryland for trial, but lawyers for the plaintiffs asked Zobel to keep them in her court.
The Box Hill suits are among dozens filed in the wake of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that sickened 778 patients, killing 77 of them.
Zobel also must decide whether dozens of other similar cases will be sent back to the states where they originated. Although 116 Tennessee cases were set to take place in Boston, those have been put on hold with word of a nearly finalized settlement with the Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center in Nashville, Tenn.
In her order Zobel asked lawyers in the Box Hill cases to report back to her by July 8 with a revised schedule moving the cases forward.
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Outbreak Victims Frustrated by Delays

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Word that checks will not go out till August and some may be delayed to December is not going over well with victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak, who have been waiting more than three years for some recompense.
The delay, which was disclosed during a federal court session Wednesday in Boston, Mass. means about 1,200 checks will go out in August while the remaining 1,150 will be sent out in two waves, in October and December.
Victims of the outbreak contacted following the disclosure expressed anger and frustration.
The 2012 outbreak, caused by fungus infested steroid drugs, sickened 778 patients in more than 20 states. Seventy-seven died, including an Indiana man who passed away in March.
"I feel the  courts and judges have done nothing to help the victims at all," said Jona Angst, a Michigan victim. "Victims are being victimized all over again.
"We've been told so many lies about when we are to receive compensation and they just keep pushing it back."
Angst said the continuing delays are forcing her into filing for bankruptcy.
"We have no choice now," she said. "I am devastated."
For most Tennessee victims there was a glimmer of hope from the Wednesday session, when the presiding judge, Rya Zobel, was told that a settlement agreement with the Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center was virtually complete.
According to court testimony the settlement would affect 116 victims who were injected with fungus laden methylprednisolone acetate at the Saint Thomas clinic.
But the disclosure gave no details on how much money might be going to those victims or when it might be distributed.
And the Nashville, Tenn. area victims share in the frustration expressed by Angst and others from across the country.
Larry Burns, whose wife Ronda was a victim, termed news of the delay unacceptable and said he believes "this is just another delay on the part of the attorneys ... and I cannot believe that Judge Zobel would allow this to happen."
"Victims are still suffering and lost a lot through this. Enough is enough," Burns wrote, adding that he hoped that there was a way to convey his feelings to the judge.
Brenda Bansale, a Michigan victim, said "we've heard this same rhetoric before. Some of us were hoping to get something in July but once again its been pushed back to a later date. I've given up hope that we'll ever see a dime from this settlement."
Kathy Pugh, whose mother was a Michigan victim, said she is angry that the federal government will be getting a share of the $200 million trust fund established in the bankruptcy of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for producing the drugs that caused the outbreak.
The federal government "does not deserve one penny," Pugh wrote, adding that if federal regulators had been doing their jobs the outbreak would never have occurred.
"They were very aware of the issues with the medication not being sterile but did nothing to stop them from being shipped all over the country,"she added.
And, she noted, the fact that checks will not be going out till August or even December "makes it all the worse."
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