Barry Cadden, a former co-owner of a Framingham-based compounding pharmacy, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak. The 2012 outbreak killed more than 60 people across the country and made more than 700 others sick.
It all started with injections of contaminated medicine from Cadden's New England Compounding Center.
Prosecutors described the pharmacy as “filthy” and said Cadden put profit above patient well-being. He told his team to use expired ingredients and improperly test drugs, prosecutors argued.
"The tainted drugs distributed on Mr. Cadden's watch caused the largest public health crisis in this country ever by a pharmaceutical drug," said Acting U.S. Attorney William Weinreb.
The jury acquitted Cadden on 25 counts of second-degree murder but found him guilty of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, and violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
The prosecutors recommended that Cadden be sentenced to at least 35 years — far more than the nine years Judge Richard Stearns handed down.
"Although we thought that a higher sentence was warranted, we accept that sometimes the judge disagrees," said Weinreb after the sentencing.
Defense attorneys acknowledged the tragedy but argued that it was the supervising pharmacist’s fault not Cadden's. They said Cadden responded quickly and aggressively as soon as he knew there was a problem.
While Cadden did not take the stand during his trial, he spoke before the sentencing. Through tears, Cadden said he's haunted by what’s happened.
More than two dozen victims attended the sentencing. Speaking for several hours, 20 of them recounted years of ongoing suffering.
"She was healthy before the injections; she just had a herniated disc,” said Rick Hannabass about his wife, Robin. “Now she has cancer, she has infections in her breasts."
The Hannabasses had hoped the judge would give Cadden a life sentence. "We got the prison sentence, and he gets out in a few years," said Rick.
Fourteen other people have been charged in connection with the outbreak. The supervising pharmacist is slated to stand trial in September.
