Chin Seeks Reduction in Sentence

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Charging that he regularly flouted safety rules, federal prosecutors are asking a federal appeals court to uphold a 10.5 year prison sentence imposed on a supervisory pharmacist at a Massachusetts drug compounding firm.
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in scheduled to hear arguments next Wednesday for the former pharmacist, Glenn A. Chin, and the federal prosecutors who want the the 10.5 year sentence kept in place.
Chin's lawyers face an uphill battle since the 10.5 year sentence was based on a prior ruling by the appeals court in the case.
The appeals panel rejected the original the eight year sentence initially set by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns concluding it was too lenient.
Chin was a supervisory pharmacist at the now defunct New England Compounding Center, the company blamed in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak, which ultimately took the lives of more than 100 patients.
Chin's lawyers, in a brief in anticipation of the upcoming hearing, argued that the government had failed to prove that the pharmacist's conduct at NECC "involved the conscious or reckless risk of death or serious bodily injury."
Contending that NECC had not previously had any comparable problems, James Sultan, argued that Chin had no reason to believe his actions put a large number of vulnerable victims at risk.
"Chin did not deliberately exploit or target a particular group of individuals," the filing states.
Federal prosecutors, in their brief, stated that evidence showed Chin regularly flouted required safety standards and even ordered other NECC workers to do the same.
The lack of cleaning in Chin's clean room led to "gross contamination," the brief states.
In addition, the filing states, Chin failed to properly sterilize the very drugs that caused the outbreak.
This is Chin's second attempt to get a lesser sentence. Co-defendant Barry Cadden is also appealing his 14.5 year sentence. In addition oth have also been ordered to pay $82 million in restitution.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com