Schuette files murder charges against 2 officials in Livingston County tainted steroid deaths
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Friday charged New England Compounding Center Founder Barry Cadden and NECC Supervisory Pharmacist Glenn Chin in Livingston County Circuit Court.
Schuette files murder charges against 2 officials in Livingston County tainted steroid deaths Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Friday charged New England Compounding Center Founder Barry Cadden and NECC Supervisory Pharmacist Glenn Chin in Livingston County Circuit Court. Check out this story on livingstondaily.com: https://www.livingstondaily.com/story/news/local/community/genoa-township/2018/12/21/ag-files-murder-charges-against-2-livingston-tainted-steroid-deaths/2390283002/
Sean Bradley, Livingston Daily Published 4:28 p.m. ET Dec. 21, 2018 | Updated 5:19 p.m. ET Dec. 21, 2018
FILE - In this March 16, 2017, file photo, Barry Cadden arrives at the federal courthouse in Boston. A verdict has been reached Wednesday, March 22, 2017, in the case. Cadden, president of New England Compounding Center, faces multiple counts in a fungal meningitis outbreak from tainted steroids manufactured by the pharmacy, which killed dozens and sickened hundreds of people in 2012.(Photo: Steven Senne, AP)
Two Massachusetts men involved in a scandal surrounding tainted steroid injections in 2012 that killed 15 Livingston County residents and left others with medical problems have been criminally charged in Michigan.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Friday charged New England Compounding Center Founder Barry Cadden and NECC Supervisory Pharmacist Glenn Chin with 11 counts of second-degree murder in Livingston County Circuit Court.
In all, the outbreak affected more than 700 victims in 23 states. Livingston County was one of the hardest-hit areas, with a total of 15 people who received tainted steroid injections dying as a result of the infection. Many more were left to deal with painful and permanent side effects.
"We worked with the U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts, and they requested we wait until they were finished with their case," Andrea Bitely, spokesperson for Schuette's office, said Friday. "They charged Cadden and Chin in Massachusetts under federal indictment."
In June of 2017, Cadden was sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted on racketeering and fraud charges in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. At the time, he was acquitted on charges of second-degree murder.
Chin was sentenced in January to eight years in prison in the same Massachusetts court.
According to the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, in 2012, 751 patients in 20 states contracted meningitis infections after being injected with steroids that came from New England Compounding Center. Of those patients, 64 died, many from Michigan, where 217 cases were linked to Michigan Pain Specialists in Genoa Township, which had dispensed the NECC contaminated steroids.
"They ignored health standards and moved forward with making money rather than protecting people," Bitely said.
Cadden and Chin have been charged in connection with the deaths of Donna Kruzich; Paula Brent; Lyn Laperriere; Sally Roe; Mary Plettl; Gayle Gibson; Patricia Malafouris; Emma Todd; Jennie Barth; Ruth Madouse and Karine Baxter.
"We were able to match up information so we know specific dates of injections and the substance they were injected with," Bitely said about why they filed charges in the 11 deaths. "We were able to match that up with other evidence that Chin and Cadden were responsible."
In this Sept. 19, 2017, file photo, Glenn Chin, supervisory pharmacist at the now-closed New England Compounding Center, leaves federal court in Boston. Chin, a Massachusetts pharmacist charged in a deadly 2012 meningitis outbreak, was cleared in October of second-degree murder charges, but convicted on dozens of other counts. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (Photo: Steven Senne, Associated Press)
Some $40 million was set aside to be paid directly to those affected by tainted steroid shots in 2012.
The funds come from the federal Victims of Crime Act, and were granted to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office for distribution by the Office for Victims of Crime of the U.S. Department of Justice. At the time, Schuette's office said the fund would offer up to $50,000 for individuals who were catastrophically injured or died from the contaminated injections.
Contact Livingston Daily reporter Sean Bradley at 517-552-2860 or at spbradley@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on Twitter @SbradleyLD.
Read or Share this story: https://www.livingstondaily.com/story/news/local/community/genoa-township/2018/12/21/ag-files-murder-charges-against-2-livingston-tainted-steroid-deaths/2390283002/
Police: Heavy rain likely caused 37-vehicle pileup
Massive pileup shut down I-96 near Brighton
El Àrbol opening taco window today, then full eatery soon
Man killed in crash was retired Lansing police detective
Mayberry Homes to build more homes in Howell
Sliders, aged cocktails on menu of future eatery