Barry Cadden, the former owner of New England Compounding Center, has pleaded no contest for his role in the deaths of 11 Michiganders in 2012.
According to authorities, a nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 resulted in 64 deaths, including 11 in Livingston County. Patients at the Michigan Pain Specialists Clinic were given epidural injections of a contaminated steroid produced by New England Compounding Center. More than 750 people nationwide got sick.
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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Cadden “ran his pharmaceutical lab with a shocking and abhorrent disregard for basic safety rules and practices.”
Cadden reportedly disregarded sterility procedures, forged and fabricated cleaning records and test results. He was found guilty in a federal court of 57 charges and was sentenced to more than 14 years incarceration in 2017. His plea agreement in Michigan includes 10-15 years imprisonment that will be served concurrently to his federal sentencing.
“Patients must be able to trust their medications are safe, and doctors must be assured they aren’t administering deadly poison,” Nessel said.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office said Cadden ran his business in an “egregiously unsafe manner.”
Michigan’s investigation into Cadden began under former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette in 2013. A 2015 settlement agreement designated $10.5 million for Michigan victims and families.
Cadden is expected to be sentenced April 18.