The head of a now-defunct Massachusetts pharmacy was sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in a 2012 meningitis outbreak that killed 76 people and left others with debilitating infections.
Barry Cadden, the owner and head pharmacist, was convicted of racketeering and fraud in connection with the outbreak, the largest public health crisis ever caused by a pharmaceutical product.
The 50-year-old was accused of producing drugs in dangerously unsanitary conditions and sidestepping regulations. Tainted steroids from the facility were distributed to patients around the country, triggering a wave of infections that sent health officials scrambling to identify the source.
When regulators inspected Cadden’s facility, they found standing water, mold and bacteria on workers’ gloves all potential sources of contamination.
The case brought new scrutiny to compounding pharmacies, which typically make medicines for individual patients on a custom basis and face looser regulations as a result. The New England Compounding Center was operating more like a full-blown manufacturer, producing large volumes of medicine and shipping them to many states.
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