By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A federal judge today approved a delay in the sentencing of a key figure in the fungal meningitis criminal cases, but he declined to make the delay indefinite.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Strearns, sitting in Boston, Mass., issued a brief order setting June 22 for the sentencing of Robert Ronzio, the former sales chief at the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the deadly 2012 outbreak.
Lawyers for Ronzio and federal proscutors had asked for an indefinite delay until an appeals court rules on a closely related case.
Under a plea agreement Ronzio entered a guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Federal prosecutors are appealing a decision by Stearns acquitting two of Ronzio's co-conspirators, Gregory Conigliaro and Sharon Carter, of the same charge.
Ronzio testified extensively for the prosecution in the trials of other NECC connected defendants.
The Ronzio sentencing had been set for April 6.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Another Ronzio Sentencing Date Being Delayed
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Yet another delay is being requested in the sentencing of a key government witness in the criminal case stemming from the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
Lawyers for Robert Ronzio and federal prosecutors filed a joint motion today in U.S. District Court in Boston asking that Ronzio's scheduled April 6 sentencing be postponed until the First Circuit Court of Appeals acts on a closely related appeal.
Under a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney Ronzio, who was the sales chief at the New England Compounding Center, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration.
NECC was the source of thousands of vials of fungus riddled methylprednisolone acetate that was injected into hundreds of unsuspecting patients. Over 100 of them eventually died while hundreds more were sickened with fungal meningitis.
Ronzio was charged with conspiring with two other NECC officials, Gregory Conigliaro and Sharon Carter. The two were found guilty on Dec. 13,2018 following a jury trial, but then had their convictions overturned by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns.
Conigliaro was vice president and part owner for NECC while Carter was director of operations at the Framingham, Mass. drug compounding facility.
Federal prosecutors are appealing Stearn's decision but the three judge panel that heard the case has yet to rule.
In return for his plea deal Ronzio testified extensively for prosecutors in the trials of other NECC defendants.
The April 6 sentencing date was set in late August of 2020.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Yet another delay is being requested in the sentencing of a key government witness in the criminal case stemming from the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
Lawyers for Robert Ronzio and federal prosecutors filed a joint motion today in U.S. District Court in Boston asking that Ronzio's scheduled April 6 sentencing be postponed until the First Circuit Court of Appeals acts on a closely related appeal.
Under a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney Ronzio, who was the sales chief at the New England Compounding Center, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration.
NECC was the source of thousands of vials of fungus riddled methylprednisolone acetate that was injected into hundreds of unsuspecting patients. Over 100 of them eventually died while hundreds more were sickened with fungal meningitis.
Ronzio was charged with conspiring with two other NECC officials, Gregory Conigliaro and Sharon Carter. The two were found guilty on Dec. 13,2018 following a jury trial, but then had their convictions overturned by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns.
Conigliaro was vice president and part owner for NECC while Carter was director of operations at the Framingham, Mass. drug compounding facility.
Federal prosecutors are appealing Stearn's decision but the three judge panel that heard the case has yet to rule.
In return for his plea deal Ronzio testified extensively for prosecutors in the trials of other NECC defendants.
The April 6 sentencing date was set in late August of 2020.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Friday, February 12, 2021
Book Details Deadly 2012 Outbreak
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
The federal judge who presided over the criminal cases stemming from the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak was "openly skeptical" of the 25 second degree murder charges brought by federal prosecutors against two pharmacists.
That's one of the conclusions in "Kill Shot" a new book on the deadly outbreak. Written by Jason Dearen, the 254-page book details the suffering of the dozens of outbreak victims who were injected with steroids loaded with deadly fungi. The offficial publication date is Tuesday Feb. 23 but copies can be pre-ordered.
Dearen writes that U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns thought the second degree murder charges filed against Barry Cadden and Glenn Chin were "bloated." Stearns, he writes,had made clear from the start that he never believed that a murder case was appropriate."
Though the book ends with details of the criminal case, the account begins years earlier when the deadly fungal meningitis outbreak began striking down its victims, a Kentucky judge, a worker in a Tennessee auto plant and a Michigan construction worker.
Dearen describes in detail the desparate efforts of state and federal regulators to identify the cause of dozens of unexplained deaths that surfaced in the Fall of 2012.
The book explains how a Nashville physician was the first to sound an alarm over the mysterious death of one of her Vanderbilt Medical Center patients.
Though regulators at first thought the problem might be confined to patients at a Nashville pain clinic the deaths began to surface in other states.
Through court testimony, thousands of pages of court exhibits and extensive interviews, Dearen reconstructs what became the worst public health crisis ever caused by a precription drug.
Cadden and Chin were among 14 persons connected to the New England Compounding Center who were indicted in 2014 following a two-year federal probe of the outbreak which ultimately took the lives of more than 100 patients while sickening hundreds of others.
Cadden was president and part-owner of the New England Compounding Center while Chin was the supervising pharmacist in the clean room where the deadly methylprednisolone acetate was produced.
The two were charged with racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud and violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. The two were charged with second degree murder as predicate acts on the racketeering charge.
The jury was split on the second degree murder charges and Dearen notes that Stearns did not question the jurors when he was presented with evidence of the split votes. A unanimous vote was needed for conviction.
The two have now been charged with second degree murder in Michigan.
Dearen goes behind the scenes in describing the efforts of the prosecutors, Amanda Strachan and George Varghese to first put the complex case together and then to convince the jurors. He also describes the congressional efforts, largely futile, to bring the little known drug compounding industry under control. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
The federal judge who presided over the criminal cases stemming from the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak was "openly skeptical" of the 25 second degree murder charges brought by federal prosecutors against two pharmacists.
That's one of the conclusions in "Kill Shot" a new book on the deadly outbreak. Written by Jason Dearen, the 254-page book details the suffering of the dozens of outbreak victims who were injected with steroids loaded with deadly fungi. The offficial publication date is Tuesday Feb. 23 but copies can be pre-ordered.
Dearen writes that U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns thought the second degree murder charges filed against Barry Cadden and Glenn Chin were "bloated." Stearns, he writes,had made clear from the start that he never believed that a murder case was appropriate."
Though the book ends with details of the criminal case, the account begins years earlier when the deadly fungal meningitis outbreak began striking down its victims, a Kentucky judge, a worker in a Tennessee auto plant and a Michigan construction worker.
Dearen describes in detail the desparate efforts of state and federal regulators to identify the cause of dozens of unexplained deaths that surfaced in the Fall of 2012.
The book explains how a Nashville physician was the first to sound an alarm over the mysterious death of one of her Vanderbilt Medical Center patients.
Though regulators at first thought the problem might be confined to patients at a Nashville pain clinic the deaths began to surface in other states.
Through court testimony, thousands of pages of court exhibits and extensive interviews, Dearen reconstructs what became the worst public health crisis ever caused by a precription drug.
Cadden and Chin were among 14 persons connected to the New England Compounding Center who were indicted in 2014 following a two-year federal probe of the outbreak which ultimately took the lives of more than 100 patients while sickening hundreds of others.
Cadden was president and part-owner of the New England Compounding Center while Chin was the supervising pharmacist in the clean room where the deadly methylprednisolone acetate was produced.
The two were charged with racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud and violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. The two were charged with second degree murder as predicate acts on the racketeering charge.
The jury was split on the second degree murder charges and Dearen notes that Stearns did not question the jurors when he was presented with evidence of the split votes. A unanimous vote was needed for conviction.
The two have now been charged with second degree murder in Michigan.
Dearen goes behind the scenes in describing the efforts of the prosecutors, Amanda Strachan and George Varghese to first put the complex case together and then to convince the jurors. He also describes the congressional efforts, largely futile, to bring the little known drug compounding industry under control. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Michigan Judge Agrees to Delay Judgements
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A Michigan judge today agreed to delay issuing a final ruling in the second degree murder charges against two former Massachusetts pharmacists.
Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Hatty approved the motions filed by lawyers for Glenn Chin and Barry Cadden to delay the issuance of final rulings so that the two can file appeals with the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Hatty agreed to delay a final ruling on his decision to uphold the decision of a district court judge binding the two over for trial on the second degree murder charges.
Cadden and Chin were charged with 11 counts of second degree murder for their roles in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. Cadden was president and part owner of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the outbreak.
Chin was the pharmacist who supervised the clean room where the deadly steroids were prepared.
Gerald Gleeson, Cadden's attorney said, "We believe the appeal has merit and presents an issue that the Michigan Court of Appeals should resolve as it would have wider application to Michigan law and it would vindicate Mr. Cadden."
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
A Michigan judge today agreed to delay issuing a final ruling in the second degree murder charges against two former Massachusetts pharmacists.
Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Hatty approved the motions filed by lawyers for Glenn Chin and Barry Cadden to delay the issuance of final rulings so that the two can file appeals with the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Hatty agreed to delay a final ruling on his decision to uphold the decision of a district court judge binding the two over for trial on the second degree murder charges.
Cadden and Chin were charged with 11 counts of second degree murder for their roles in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. Cadden was president and part owner of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the outbreak.
Chin was the pharmacist who supervised the clean room where the deadly steroids were prepared.
Gerald Gleeson, Cadden's attorney said, "We believe the appeal has merit and presents an issue that the Michigan Court of Appeals should resolve as it would have wider application to Michigan law and it would vindicate Mr. Cadden."
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Friday, February 5, 2021
Final Check to Victims Delayed
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Some $11.5 million in final benefits to hundreds of victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak will probably be delayed until summer, according to the attorney overseeing the funds set aside for those victims.
Lynne Riley wrote in an email response to questions that administrative details will prevent the funds from being distributed in March as many had hoped.
"We will need a few months to organize the final payments to tort claimants to ensure the final distribution is correct and complete, since this will be the final payment," Riley wrote.
"If it can be done sooner, it will," Riley added, "but this is our current estimation."
The funds in question represent a portion of the tax refunds that were made to owners of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the 2012 outbreak. Those owners agreed to give up the money as part of a court settlement.
Distribution of the money was delayed because the IRS could still dispute the refunds. They have been held in escrow until the appeal deadline passes.
Another $425,000 has been released from escrow and has been forwarded to Riley.
The $11 million is in addition to the nearly $100 million already distributed to some 2,027 victims.
Other payments totaling $48.8 million have gone to outbreak victims who were injected with tainted methylprednisolone acetate at three clinics, Inspira Health of New Jersey, Insight Imaging of Virginia and the High Point Surgery Center in North Carolina.
Still other payments to victims came from a settlement with the St. Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center in Nashville. The exact amount of that settlement, estimated at more than $20 million, has never been made public.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Some $11.5 million in final benefits to hundreds of victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak will probably be delayed until summer, according to the attorney overseeing the funds set aside for those victims.
Lynne Riley wrote in an email response to questions that administrative details will prevent the funds from being distributed in March as many had hoped.
"We will need a few months to organize the final payments to tort claimants to ensure the final distribution is correct and complete, since this will be the final payment," Riley wrote.
"If it can be done sooner, it will," Riley added, "but this is our current estimation."
The funds in question represent a portion of the tax refunds that were made to owners of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the 2012 outbreak. Those owners agreed to give up the money as part of a court settlement.
Distribution of the money was delayed because the IRS could still dispute the refunds. They have been held in escrow until the appeal deadline passes.
Another $425,000 has been released from escrow and has been forwarded to Riley.
The $11 million is in addition to the nearly $100 million already distributed to some 2,027 victims.
Other payments totaling $48.8 million have gone to outbreak victims who were injected with tainted methylprednisolone acetate at three clinics, Inspira Health of New Jersey, Insight Imaging of Virginia and the High Point Surgery Center in North Carolina.
Still other payments to victims came from a settlement with the St. Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center in Nashville. The exact amount of that settlement, estimated at more than $20 million, has never been made public.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Friday, January 29, 2021
K. Chin Probation Details Disclosed
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Massachusetts regulators have released the details of restrictions that have been placed on a pharmacist who was convicted of four violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act at a now defunct drug compounding firm.
Kathy S. Chin, whose license was placed on probation on Dec. 21 of last year, will have to work under the supervision of another licensed pharmacist and that pharmacist will have to file quarterly reports on her job performance to the state Pharmacy Board.
Chin was one of 14 people connected to the New England Compounding Center indicted in late 2014 following a two year federal probe of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
She was found guilty on May 2, 2019 and sentenced to two years probation on Jan. 2 2020. Under the consent agreement with the board, Chin's license will remain in probationary status for three years.
Before she can begin work as a pharmacist she must pass an examination (Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination)and she is barred from engaging in sterile compounding and from serving as a pharmacist-in-charge or supervising pharmacy interns.
Chin is the spouse of Glenn Chin, who was also indicted in 2014. He is now serving an eight year federal prison sentence following his conviction on racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud and violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Glenn Chin and his former boss, Barry Cadden, also have been charged with 11 counts of second degree murder in Michigan. That case has not yet gone to trial.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Massachusetts regulators have released the details of restrictions that have been placed on a pharmacist who was convicted of four violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act at a now defunct drug compounding firm.
Kathy S. Chin, whose license was placed on probation on Dec. 21 of last year, will have to work under the supervision of another licensed pharmacist and that pharmacist will have to file quarterly reports on her job performance to the state Pharmacy Board.
Chin was one of 14 people connected to the New England Compounding Center indicted in late 2014 following a two year federal probe of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
She was found guilty on May 2, 2019 and sentenced to two years probation on Jan. 2 2020. Under the consent agreement with the board, Chin's license will remain in probationary status for three years.
Before she can begin work as a pharmacist she must pass an examination (Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination)and she is barred from engaging in sterile compounding and from serving as a pharmacist-in-charge or supervising pharmacy interns.
Chin is the spouse of Glenn Chin, who was also indicted in 2014. He is now serving an eight year federal prison sentence following his conviction on racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud and violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Glenn Chin and his former boss, Barry Cadden, also have been charged with 11 counts of second degree murder in Michigan. That case has not yet gone to trial.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Chin Seeks End of Murder Charges
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Charging that prosecutors have utterly failed to produce needed evidence, lawyers for a former pharmacist are asking the Michigan Appeals Court to allow them to challenge the decision to send 11 second dgree murder charges to a jury.
In a 16-page filing this week in the appeals court, lawyers for Glenn Chin said the murder charges cannot stand because prosecutors failed to identify any single act by Chin that led to the deaths of 12 Michigan patients.
Chin and his former boss, Barry Caddden, were charged with second degree murder following an investigation of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak which was caused by steroids produced at the New England Compounding Center.
Cadden was president and part owner of the now defunct company and Chin supervised the clean room where the fungus ridden methylprednisolone acetate was produced. Cadden is also asking the appeals court to consider overturning the December decision by Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Hatty to send the murder charges to a jury.
The motion filed today by Kevin S. Gentry concedes that "the clean room was not all that clean," but states prosecutors "utterly failed to even try to offer evidence on actual causation."
In fact, the filing states, the clean room conditions were "outright unsanitary and messy."
Nonetheless prosecutors failed to identify any act by Chin that caused the drugs to become contaminated, the motion states, noting that tests showed the drugs were sterile after Chin performed the initial compounding.
Subsequently they were placed in vials by other NECC employees and shipped to health providers in Michigan and some 20 other states.
"Some particular act of his (Chin) must be seen to have, more likely than not, to be the cause of the deaths," the motion states.
"The methylprednisolone acetate was sterile at the time it left Chin's hands," the filing states, adding that no one has been able to determine exactly how or when the drugs became contaminated with a deadly fungus.
Prosecutors from the state Attorney General's office, the Chin filing states, tried to hide that lack of causation evidence "behind a mountain of mental state evidence."
Contending that the case is really a product liability case, the motion states that there has never been a second degree murder finding based on the type of evidence presented against Chin.
The motion asks the appeals court to allow Chin's lawyer to appeal the so-called bind over order now, even though a final judgement has not been made in circuit court.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Charging that prosecutors have utterly failed to produce needed evidence, lawyers for a former pharmacist are asking the Michigan Appeals Court to allow them to challenge the decision to send 11 second dgree murder charges to a jury.
In a 16-page filing this week in the appeals court, lawyers for Glenn Chin said the murder charges cannot stand because prosecutors failed to identify any single act by Chin that led to the deaths of 12 Michigan patients.
Chin and his former boss, Barry Caddden, were charged with second degree murder following an investigation of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak which was caused by steroids produced at the New England Compounding Center.
Cadden was president and part owner of the now defunct company and Chin supervised the clean room where the fungus ridden methylprednisolone acetate was produced. Cadden is also asking the appeals court to consider overturning the December decision by Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Hatty to send the murder charges to a jury.
The motion filed today by Kevin S. Gentry concedes that "the clean room was not all that clean," but states prosecutors "utterly failed to even try to offer evidence on actual causation."
In fact, the filing states, the clean room conditions were "outright unsanitary and messy."
Nonetheless prosecutors failed to identify any act by Chin that caused the drugs to become contaminated, the motion states, noting that tests showed the drugs were sterile after Chin performed the initial compounding.
Subsequently they were placed in vials by other NECC employees and shipped to health providers in Michigan and some 20 other states.
"Some particular act of his (Chin) must be seen to have, more likely than not, to be the cause of the deaths," the motion states.
"The methylprednisolone acetate was sterile at the time it left Chin's hands," the filing states, adding that no one has been able to determine exactly how or when the drugs became contaminated with a deadly fungus.
Prosecutors from the state Attorney General's office, the Chin filing states, tried to hide that lack of causation evidence "behind a mountain of mental state evidence."
Contending that the case is really a product liability case, the motion states that there has never been a second degree murder finding based on the type of evidence presented against Chin.
The motion asks the appeals court to allow Chin's lawyer to appeal the so-called bind over order now, even though a final judgement has not been made in circuit court.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
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