In January, Glenn Chin will be sentenced after being convicted of racketeering and mail fraud. The former supervisory pharmacist at the New England Compounding Center was found complicit in one of the worst pharmaceutical health crises in American history, in which 64 people were killed and over 700 sickened with meningitis. His boss, Barry Cadden, owner of NECC, is in prison for 35 years for his role in the outbreak.
NECC shipped contaminated compound drugs produced in deplorable conditions at NECC to patients all over the country, and was able to do so due to lax government oversight of compound pharmacies. These facilities are legally allowed to produce specially tailored medications for patients whose medical needs cannot be met by traditionally manufactured pharmaceuticals. When produced appropriately, these compound medicines play an important role in medicine. But too often, compounders take advantage of weak regulations to cut corners in pursuit of big profits – leaving patients vulnerable to unsafe medications.
