Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pharmacist Sentenced To 9 Years For Role In Deadly Fungal Meningitis Outbreak
The New York Times: Pharmacist Gets 9-Year Prison Term In Deadly Meningitis Outbreak
The tainted injection left Rachelle Shuff with pain that requires 15 medications to manage and, she said, perhaps only two years to live. Scott Shaw and Anna Shaw Allred had to bury their mother, Elwina Shaw, who at 77 was healthy, they said, until she got a tainted injection of a steroid and a debilitating illness followed. (Bidgood, 6/26)
The Wall Street Journal: Boston Judge Sentences Former Compounding Pharmacist To Nine Years
Mr. Cadden co-owned the New England Compounding Center, a now-closed Framingham, Mass., pharmacy that made injected steroid pain medication that caused 750 cases of fungal meningitis in 20 states, including at least 64 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Levitz, 6/26)
Bloomberg: Pharmacist Tied To Fatal Meningitis Outbreak Gets Nine Years
“This reality haunts me now and will do so for the rest of my life,” Cadden told U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns at his sentencing Monday in Boston federal court. “It breaks my heart to read about how painful their deaths have been.” (Lawrence, 6/26)
Boston Globe: Former NECC Co-Owner Sentenced To Nine Years In Prison
Cadden was convicted in March of fraud and racketeering charges stemming from the public health crisis triggered when NECC sent tainted medicines around the country, causing a fungal meningitis outbreak that killed at least 60 and sickened hundreds. The jury did not convict him of second-degree murder charges. (Arsenault and Ellement, 6/26)
