Pharmacist blamed for deaths in US meningitis outbreak will plead no contest in Michigan case
DETROIT– A Massachusetts pharmacist charged with murder in connection with the deaths of 11 Michigan residents during a 2012 U.S. meningitis outbreak has agreed not to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, according to an email sent to the families and obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
The deal with Glenn Chin means he will receive 7.5 years in prison, minus his current, longer sentence for federal crimes, Johanna Delp of the attorney general’s office said in the email.
She said Chin will appear in Livingston County District Court next Thursday. trial planned for november will be scratched.
Michigan is the only state to charge Chin and Barry Cadden, an executive at the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts, in deaths linked to the outbreak.
More than 700 people in 20 states fell ill with fungal meningitis or other debilitating diseases, and dozens died from contaminated steroids shipped to pain clinics, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The lab’s “clean room” where steroids were made was riddled with mold, bugs and cracks, investigators said. Chin oversaw the production.
He is currently serving a 10 1/2-year federal sentence for racketeering, fraud and other crimes related to the outbreak, following a 2017 trial in Boston. Because of the credit on his federal sentence, it is unlikely Chin will spend any additional time in Michigan custody.
“I am truly sorry that this ever happened,” Chin, now 56, said in court in Boston.
There was no immediate response Friday to a phone call and email seeking comment from Chin’s attorney.
Cadden, 57, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter earlier this year in Michigan and was sentenced sentenced to 10 years in prison. The second-degree murder charge was dropped.
Cadden’s state sentence will run concurrently with his 14.5-year federal sentence, and he has been receiving credit for time served in custody since 2018.
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