Pharmacy exec resentenced to 14 years in meningitis outbreak

A founder of a now-defunct Massachusetts pharmaceutical facility responsible for a deadly meningitis outbreak has been ordered to serve 14 and a half years behind bars

BOSTON -- A founder of a now-defunct Massachusetts pharmaceutical facility responsible for a deadly meningitis outbreak will spend 14 and a half years behind bars, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, lengthening his initial punishment of nine years that was tossed out by an appeals court. Barry Cadden, who was president and co-owner of the now-closed New England Compounding Center, showed little emotion as he was sentenced for a second time after being convicted of fraud and other crimes in the 2012 outbreak that killed 100 people and sickened hundreds of others. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Cadden's sentence last year and ordered the judge to re-examine whether certain enhancements in sentencing guidelines that call for stiffer punishments should apply. The outbreak was traced to mold-tainted steroid injections produced by the company in Framingham, located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Boston. The scandal threw a spotlight on compounding pharmacies, which differ from ordinary drugstores in that they custom mix medications and supply them directly to hospitals and doctors.