Drugs

NECC Pharmacist Guilty of Racketeering, Fraud

A Massachusetts federal court jury has convicted former New England Compounding Center (NECC) pharmacist Glenn Chin on racketeering and fraud charges, but cleared him of murder charges, in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that killed 76 people and sickened hundreds more across the U.S. Reuters reports that jurors said that federal prosecutors failed to prove that Chin committed second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of 25 people who were injected with mold-tainted steroids produced at NECC.

Earlier this year, a separate jury found NECC co-founder and former president Barry Cadden guilty of racketeering and fraud, and also cleared him of murder. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Prosecutors had said that Chin directed NECC clean room staff to skip cleaning, despite the presence of insects, mice, and mold. Reuters says they claimed that Chin disregarded the probability that people could die if he failed to ensure that drugs were produced in sanitary conditions and were properly sterilized to keep up with demand from hospitals nationally for its medicines.

Chin’s attorneys said it should never have been considered a murder case, and argued that he never meant for anyone to die. They said blame should be placed on Cadden who, they said, made all the decisions at NECC and trained Chin on how to produce drugs in the ways that prosecutors said were unsafe.

Lesser charges were filed against 12 other people associated with the company. Three have pleaded guilty, Reuters says, and a judge dismissed charges against two others. Charges against the rest are still pending.

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FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

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FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome

FDA has approved Roche’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for reducing the risk of relapse in adults and children aged 2 and older with frequently relapsing or steroid-dependent, childhood-onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who are in remission. The expanded approval covers the use of the CD20-directed antibody beyond its existing

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Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome