Jurors in the federal trial of Glenn Chin, the supervisory pharmacist said to be involved in a deadly nationwide meningitis outbreak, have convicted him of racketeering and mail fraud charges.
However, Chin has also been found not guilty of second-degree murder.
The decision came on Wednesday, Oct. 25.
Chin supervised the cleanrooms at the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., which closed in 2012 after a fungal meningitis outbreak caused by tainted steroid injections killed 64 people in nine states and sickened more than 700 others. Chin was facing federal charges of second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of 25 people who were injected with the mold-contaminated steroids. The prosecution accused him of allowing lax cleanroom rules and other unsafe and unprofessional conduct.
Read more: Cleanroom QC Agent: Pharmacist Told Me to “[Expletive] Off”: https://www.cemag.us/blog/2017/10/cleanroom-qc-agent-pharmacist-told-me-expletive
The outbreak led Congress to pass the Drug Quality and Security Act in 2013, which allows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration‘s oversight of certain compounding pharmacies that produce custom drugs.
Read more: Closing Arguments in Meningitis Outbreak Trial: https://www.cemag.us/blog/2017/10/closing-arguments-meningitis-outbreak-trial
Chin’s trial came six months after Barry J. Cadden, former co-owner and president of the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., was acquitted of murder in March 2017. Cadden was facing 25 counts of second-degree murder. The jury heard nine weeks of testimony and then deliberated for five days before presenting their verdict. Cadden was convicted of racketeering and fraud charges in June 2017, and was sentenced to nine years in prison. Chin plead not guilty to his own charges, and his legal team argued that he was only following Cadden’s “cut corners” orders during his employment at the NECC.
Read more: Verdict Reached in Meningitis Case https://www.cemag.us/blog/2017/03/verdict-reached-meningitis-case
Chin is scheduled for sentencing on January 30.