BOSTON
— Two senior executives of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy were
charged Wednesday with racketeering and murder in the production of
tainted drugs that killed 64 people and sickened hundreds of others
across the country with fungal meningitis in the fall of 2012.
The
United States attorney’s office here charged Barry J. Cadden, an owner
of New England Compounding Center Inc. and the head pharmacist, and
Glenn A. Chin, a supervisory pharmacist, with 25 acts of second-degree
murder in seven states — Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, North
Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
“Senior
N.E.C.C. pharmacists knew that, despite the filthy conditions at
N.E.C.C., the drugs that they made were not property tested for
sterility,” said Carmen Ortiz, the United States attorney for
Massachusetts.
In
all, 14 people were charged in a 131-count indictment, many of them
pharmacists at the company, which is now closed. The charges include
mail fraud, conspiracy and violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Most were taken into custody at their homes early Wednesday, officials
said.
Among
those accused were members of the Conigliaro family of Massachusetts —
Gregory, Douglas and Carla. The family founded the company in 1998 as
part of a broader business organization that included a recycling firm.
Carla
and Douglas Conigliaro, a husband and wife, were accused of
transferring $33 million in assets to eight different bank accounts
after the pharmacy went into bankruptcy and a court ordered all assets
frozen. The couple pleaded not guilty.
David
Meier, a lawyer for the couple, said his clients had done nothing
wrong. “To the extent that there were transfers, they were all legal,”
he said.
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