Michigan AG Says Cadden, Chin must Face Jury

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The Michigan Attorney General says two former Massachusetts pharmacists must face a jury to decide whether they are guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of 11 patients who died after being injected with a highly contaminated drug.
In one 27-page brief filed today in Livingston Circuit Court, the state prosecutor urged Judge Michael A. Hatty to deny motions filed by lawyers for Barry J. Cadden and Glenn Chin that would effectively clear the two of second-degree murder.
Filed by Assistant Attorney Generals Gregory Townsend and Denise Hart, the brief states that Cadden and Chin's actions and inactions caused "great bodily harm and more importantly caused death."
Cadden and Chin's lawyers have asked Hatty to rule that District Court Judge Shauna Murphy was wrong when she ruled that there was probable cause to believe that crimes had been committed and Chin and Cadden had committed those crimes.
Cadden, the brief states, "put production over safety and health at every juncture," as he sought to gain as much profit as he possibly could.
Cadden was part owner and president of the New England Compounding Center(NECC), the company blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that took the lives of 11 Michigan patients, along with dozens of others from more than 20 states.
As the brief notes Chin was a supervising pharmacist at NECC working under Cadden's supervision.
Citing testimony of 16 witnesses and 80 exhibits, the brief states that after reasonable cause has been found, it is up to a jury to finally decide whether the two are guilty of second degree murder.
The brief cites testimony from former NECC employees and experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the "outrageously" unsafe and unsanitary conditions at NECC's Framingham, Mass. facility.
Also cited was testimony showing specific instances when NECC, at Cadden's direction, shipped out products before they could be tested. Even when products were tested, NECC submitted far fewer samples than were required.
Other testimony showed how NECC failed to follow national standards for the production of sterile drugs.
"He (Cadden) knowingly created a very high risk of death or great bodily injury," the filing states, adding that prosecutors do not contend that either defendant intended to kill the victims.
Though Chin worked under Cadden's supervision, the brief states that "Chin still had a duty to take the lawful and moral avenue" and not send out unsterile and untested medications. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com