Chin Gets 8 Year Sentence in NECC Case

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Boston, Mass. --Stating that the law did not allow him to set a stiffer sentence based on the testimony of victims, a federal judge has given a former pharmacist an eight-year prison sentence for his role in a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak.
U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns imposed the sentence today on 49-year-old Glenn A. Chin, who was a supervising pharmacist at the now defunct New England Compounding Center, the company that shipped fungus laden steroids to dozens of health facilities across the country in 2012.
The resulting outbreak sickened at least 793 patients, killing 76 of them.
Stearns rejected the recommendation of prosecutors who had asked that Chin get a 35-year prison sentence. Chin's sentence is one year less than the one Stearns imposed on Chin's boss at NECC, Barry J. Cadden. Cadden has already begun serving that nine year sentence at a federal prison in Pennsylvania.
Stearns, who cited the dereliction of government regulators in failing to act against NECC, said that despite the testimony of victims and survivors of victims, he could only consider the health care providers who bought NECC's products as victims.
"The enhancements do not apply," Stearns said. ""It's not that a judge couldn't do it. I've never done it before and I'm not going to do it in this case."
Prior to his ruling victims and survivors, including Colette Rybinski of Tennessee testified about the suffering and deaths that resulted when patients were injected with steroids laden with deadly fungi.
Rybinski described the suffering of her late husband Tom, who was the first victim of the outbreak to be identified following his injection with contaminated methylprednisolone acetate at a Nashville clinic.
She asked Stearns to impose "the maximum sentence possible" to keep the tragedy "from ever happening again."
Just prior to the sentencing Chin told the judge he was "truly sorry" and, repeatedly broke down in tears, saying he has been praying every day for the living victims to fully recover and "stay healthy."
Stearns later said he was convinced Chin was "truly remorseful."
Chin was convicted in October on racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud charges and violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. The jury failed to convict him on 25 counts of second degree murder. Cadden was cleared on those same murder charges, but convicted on parallel racketeering and mail fraud charges.
In the hearing today before imposing the sentence Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Strachan said the 35-year sentence was necessary to send a message to drug compounders across the country. She said lobbyists for the industry were lobbying for easements in regulation "despite the outbreak."
Chin, she said, in his role as a supervising pharmacist, ordered his subordinates to hide evidence of violations even as federal regulators poured into the Framingham, Mass. facility following the outbreak.
She said he ordered workers to put trash cans over cracks in the floor of the so-called clean room where sterile drugs were being prepared and lied to investigators from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration "when people were dying. That's how we know his intent."
She said Chin also never disclosed to federal investigators that he had $636,000 in a retirement account. Instead, she said, he used the money to buy a new sport utility vehicle for $47,500.
Chin's attorney Stephen Weymouth urged Stearns to follow the same logic he had used in setting Cadden's sentence last year.
Acknowledging that his client did "not step up and he did not quit," Weymouth said Chin's ethnic background made it impossible for him to stand up to Cadden and question unsanitary conditions at NECC.
"I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for Glenn Chin." Weymouth concluded. "There is no way of explaining away what happened."
Weymouth had recommended that Stearns impose a 37 month prison sentence.
He also cited his client's longtime involvement in a youth sports group and his record as a "a good pharmacist" before joining NECC.
A key element in setting the sentence was the economic loss that could be attributed to the criminal activities of Chin and Cadden. While prosecutors said the loss should total $132.6 million, Stearns ruled that the loss be limited to $1.4 million, the value of the drugs that he said prosecutors actually proved were sent out fraudulently.
Although Assistant U.S. Attorney George Varghese told Stearns he would appeal the sentencing decision, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling and other federal officials issued a statement praising the overall outcome.
Lelling said that "again and again  he (Chin) acted with complete disregard for the health and safety of patients."
Prosecutors had argued all of NECC's drugs from its inception were produced and shipped as part of a fraudulent enterprise. The $132.6 valuation could have brought Chin a life sentence.
Other victims to testify included Will Mazure, a Michigan resident, who said he still suffers the after effects of the disease and the painful antifungal medications. He said a prior spinal fusion had to be dismantled.
"It was horrible," Mazure said as he described his still ongoing symptoms including memory impairment.
"I can't stay focused," he told the judge.
After the court session he told reporters that as a result of the judge's decision no one is going to be held responsible for the deaths.
Mary Beth Krakowski described how her aunt, Alice Machowiak, was forced to use a walker in the days leading to her death. She said her aunt would wait until after dark to retrieve her mail so that neighbors wouldn't see her.
She said Chin had a chance to be the hero and blow the whistle on Cadden and NECC.
"He could have been the unsung hero," she said.
Kathy and Dan Maccoux described how their "vibrant and athletic" daughter Tracy, one of the youngest victims, had her life completely derailed after being stricken with  meningitis following her injections with drugs prepared by Chin.
"All of our lives became a living hell," Kathy Maccoux said.

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