Victims Question Chin's Offer

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

In a Boston, Mass. courtroom last week a former employee of the New England Compounding Center,the company blamed for a deadly outbreak told a federal judge that she wanted to start a campaign to raise funds for the victims of that 2012 public health disaster.
Kathy Chin made the disclosure during her sentencing hearing. She made the statement to U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns moments before he imposed a sentence following her conviction of four violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.
She told Stearns that she hoped federal prosecutors would supply her with the names of the victims so she could contact them. Subsequently she was sentenced to two years of probation.
Though there were no victims present for the Thursday hearing, a subsequent query to victims brought a less than favorable response.
"I do not believe anything she or the others (defendants) say. They have had seven plus years to try to help the victims. And there was nothing done. They are only looking out for themselves," wrote Linda S. Boggs, a Virginia victim of the outbreak in an email response to requests for comment.
She, like other victims expressed concerns about the possible disclosure of her name and any contact information.
"If she is sincere she can work through our attorneys," Boggs added.
Donna Borton, the spouse of a Michigan victim, said she was surprised to hear of Chin's offer in light of the fact that the Chins sought a court appointed attorney because they couldn't afford one.
Kathy Chin's husband, Glenn, was also a defendant in the case and is now serving an eight year prison sentence following his conviction on racketeering and mail fraud charges.
Stating that she was unsure of Kathy Chin's motive for making the offer, Borton said she and her husband Ken were "a little suspicious of her intentions."
"We really don't want her to have any of our personal information," Borton wrote, adding that they and other victims "pretty much agree that no one trusts anyone with any ties to NECC."
Dawn Elliott, an Indiana Victim,was equally skeptical.
"In my opinion I will truly be surprised if Kathy Chin does anything. I feel it is too little too late and had she wanted to really do anything she would have done it a long time ago. I truly do not believe she is sincere. She may truly be sorry, but I don’t think she will truly do a thing to help anyone," Elliott wrote.
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