Massachusetts pharmacist gets up to 15 years in prison for deaths from meningitis outbreak

HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — A Massachusetts pharmacist was sentenced Friday in Michigan to 7 1/2 to 15 years in prison for his role in a national 2012 meningitis outbreak that killed dozens of people.

Neither Glenn Chin nor family members of the Michigan victims made statements during his sentencing in Livingston County Circuit Court in Howell, northwest of Detroit.

“I know Mr. Chin hopes that this conviction will bring at least some closure to their friends and family,” attorney Bill Livingston said in court. “He has always been open to his lawyers about the deep and genuine sadness he feels for the people affected by this.”

Chin, 56, pleaded no contest in August to involuntary manslaughter in the 11 deaths in Michigan.

He is already serving a 10 1/2-year federal sentence for racketeering, fraud and other crimes related to the outbreak, following a trial in Boston in 2017. The Michigan sentence will also be served in federal prison. He will receive more than 6 1/2 years of credit for time already served.

Chin oversaw production at the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts, which shipped steroids for pain relief to clinics across the country. Researchers said the laboratory was infested with mold and insects.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 700 people in 20 states fell ill with fungal meningitis or other debilitating illnesses, and dozens died.

Michigan is the only state to have prosecuted Chin and his boss, Barry Cadden, for deaths related to the scandal. Chin oversaw production for Cadden, whom he called the “big boss,” prosecutors said in court filings.

Cadden “ordered Chin to ship untested drugs to meet the large increase in orders, without regard to the safety of the patients they promised to protect as pharmacists,” prosecutors said.

Judge Matthew J. McGivney told Chin on Friday that evidence showed he induced or encouraged employees to fail to properly test drugs for sterility, fail to properly sterilize drugs and fail to properly clean and disinfect clean rooms. Evidence also showed that Chin directed or encouraged technicians to fill out clean logs even though the rooms had not been cleaned, McGivney said.

“There could be no doubt that you were aware of the risks to which you exposed these innocent patients,” the judge added. “You promoted production and sales, you prioritized money and sacrificed cleaning and testing protocols that kept the medication safe for patients. Your focus on higher turnover and higher margins is costing people their lives.”

Cadden, 57, pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in Michigan earlier this year and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His state sentence will run concurrently with his 14 1/2-year federal sentence, and he will receive credit for time served in custody since 2018.