Plaintiffs Oppose Cadden Motion

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The lead attorney for plaintiffs in the civil suits stemming from the fungal meningitis outbreak has joined with federal prosecutors in opposing a move by the primary defendant in a related criminal case to gain access to thousands of documents amassed by lawyers for outbreak victims.
Thomas Sobol, one of the attorneys representing victims of the 2012 outbreak, wrote that since Barry Cadden has been released from the civil case he should not be allowed access to the civil litigation records.
"We agree with the government that Mr. Cadden has not shown a need to access these civil litigation materials," Sobol wrote.
Cadden's lawyers filed the request to have access to the repository of documents amassed in the three-year-old civil case to use in his defense against charges, including 25 counts of second degree murder, pending against him.
Cadden is scheduled to go on trial along with codefendant Glenn Chin on Jan. 5, 2017.
Both the criminal and civil litigation stem from the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak caused by the New England Compounding Center. The now defunct company sent thousands of vials of fungus laden steroids to health facilities across the country.
In a filing last week federal prosecutors charged that Cadden's request was an attempt to do an end run around the rules of civil procedure governing criminal trials.
In his request to access the civil files, Cadden's attorney wrote, "He (Cadden) seeks to use the materials he already possesses as well as other material added to the repository more recently to defend himself," the motion states.
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