The former owner of the now-defunct New England Compounding Center (NECC) was resentenced in federal court in Boston in connection with the 2012 nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak. The defendant was resentenced after the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his criminal convictions but vacated his sentence and forfeiture order. Barry Cadden, 54, previously of Wrentham, was sentenced to 174 months in prison. Cadden was also ordered to pay forfeiture of $1.4 million and restitution of $82 million. In 2012, 753 patients in 20 states were diagnosed with a fungal infection after receiving injections of MPA manufactured by NECC, and more than 100 patients died as a result. The outbreak was the largest public health crisis ever caused by a contaminated pharmaceutical drug. Cadden was responsible for directing and authorizing shipments of contaminated MPA to NECC customers nationwide. In addition, he authorized the shipping of drugs before test results confirming their sterility were returned, never notified customers of nonsterile results and compounded drugs with expired ingredients. Furthermore, certain batches of drugs were manufactured, in part, by an unlicensed pharmacy technician at NECC.
