Health Team

Pharmacist sentenced to 8 years in prison for 2012 meningitis outbreak

A Boston pharmacist, Glenn Chin, was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for his role in a 2012 meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people and infected more than 700, according to the Massachusetts Attorney's Office.

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By
Gabriela Milian
and
Olivia Kiely (CNN)
(CNN) — A Boston pharmacist, Glenn Chin, was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for his role in a 2012 meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people and infected more than 700, according to the Massachusetts Attorney's Office.

"Glenn Chin will be trapped in a prison of sorrow and guilt for the rest of his life," his attorney Stephen Weymouth said in a statement. "He knows that the victims will suffer for the rest of their lives."

A federal jury convicted Chin in October on 77 counts including racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud and introduction of misbranded drugs; he was acquitted of second-degree murder.

He was involved in making more than 17,000 vials of contaminated preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate, a steroid manufactured by the New England Compounding Center, where Chin worked.

"Mr. Chin is finally being held accountable for his role in one of the worst pharmaceutical disasters in this country," Harold Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston Division, said in a statement.

The former pharmacist gave up his license in 2012 after the meningitis outbreak. Chin has been on home confinement with an ankle bracelet and a curfew since 2014.

Chin's supervisor, Barry Cadden, owner and head pharmacist of the compounding center, was sentenced to nine years in prison and three years of supervised release in the outbreak. He had also been convicted on racketeering, mail fraud and other charges.

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