Pharmacist linked to US meningitis outbreak deaths may plead no contest in Michigan case

A Massachusetts pharmacist, Glenn Chin, is facing murder charges in connection to the deaths of 11 Michigan residents during a 2012 meningitis outbreak in the United States. Rather than going to trial in November, Chin is expected to enter a plea of no contest to involuntary manslaughter on Thursday in a Michigan courtroom. Although a no-contest plea does not acknowledge guilt, it can be considered as such during sentencing.

Chin’s plea agreement includes a proposed 7 1/2-year prison term, taking into account the time he has already served for federal crimes. Michigan is the only state to have brought charges against Chin and Barry Cadden, an executive at the New England Compounding Center, for the fatalities resulting from the outbreak.

The outbreak affected over 700 individuals in 20 states, causing fungal meningitis and other severe illnesses, with dozens succumbing to the tainted steroids distributed to pain clinics. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the facility where the steroids were processed, known as the “clean room,” was contaminated with mold, insects, and structural defects, which Chin supervised.

Chin is presently serving a 10 1/2-year federal sentence for offenses such as racketeering and fraud related to the outbreak, after a trial in Boston in 2017. Given the credit for this federal sentence, it is unlikely that he will face additional time in Michigan’s custody.

Barry Cadden, another individual involved in the case, previously pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in Michigan and received a 10-year prison sentence. The charge of second-degree murder against him was dropped. Cadden’s state sentence is concurrent with his 14 1/2-year federal sentence, and he has been receiving credit for time served since 2018.