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Two former pharmacists working for the defamed company, NECC, have recently been denied their appeals requests by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. Their appeals come as a surprise to many as both women received relatively light sentences for their roles in a fraudulent drug campaign that led to the death of over a hundred people nationwide. While both received probations for their participation in the scheme to hide the company from the investigatory eyes of the Federal Drug Administration, their colleagues received harsher prison sentences.
Colucci, Colucci & Marcus, P.C. hopes to bring to light some of the more sinister intentions of selected individuals in the pharmaceutical world while informing Bostonians of their rights following incidents such as this one.
A Massachusetts compounding pharmacy by the name of NECC is making headlines again following the failed appeals request of two employees involved in a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak. The pharmacists in question attempted to appeal their original convictions after being sentenced to probation for issuing falsified prescriptions to imaginary patients.
The employees in question are Kathy Chin and Michelle Thomas who were two of 14 employees indicted after the pharmaceutical-caused meningitis outbreak. According to federal prosecutors, Kathy Chin was a 47-year-old at the time of her sentencing and is originally from Canton, Massachusetts. Thomas, a Rhode Island native, and former University of Rhode Island professor was 35 at the time of her sentencing in late 2019.
Chin and Thomas were concluded to have dispensed and misbranded drugs by the 1st United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston last week with “intent to fraud or mislead.” They would prescribe drugs to non-existent patients with invented aliases such as “Tony Tiger”, branded with labels like “Coco Puff”.
The two ex-pharmacists attorneys argue that they were not legally dispensing drugs at the compounding pharmacy and that they were simply working in the shipping department. Despite their attempts, U.S. Circuit Judge David Barron found that this was a relatively weak argument as the drugs that they were handling eventually made it to hospitals and other healthcare centers, ultimately harming prescribes.
He added that no reasonable juror could accept this argument as both women were licensed pharmacists and filed drug-related paperwork that could only be signed by people with their certifications. The two were described as “verification pharmacists” and participated in a cover-up meant to shield the NECC from oversight or intervention by the Food and Drug Administration.
Cases concerning the meningitis outbreak are being treated with extreme care, as the mold-tainted drugs in question caused eventual illness in nearly 800 people across the United States, more than 100 of whom eventually died from fungal infection.
Colucci, Colucci & Marcus, P.C. is a well-established and experienced Massachusetts law firm that has helped countless people with medical malpractice and pharmacy errors. Events such as this one show the possibility for clandestine scheming that may happen behind closed doors, away from the prying eyes of the law. Colucci, Colucci & Marcus, P.C. offers Boston medical malpractice attorneys to help you seek justice following professional harm to your health. Please consider reaching out to us by calling 617-917-3917 or by clicking here for a free case evaluation.
