Compounder Strikes Preliminary $100M Deal Over Meningitis Outbreak

More than a year after an outbreak of fungal meningitis was traced to the New England Compounding Center and caused the worst public health crisis in the US in decades, the owners, operators and insurers of the bankrupt compounder have reached a preliminary agreement to create a fund that may exceed $100 million to compensate victims. “This is but one chapter in this saga; litigation will continue against medical clinics, doctors, hospitals and other companies who were hired by NECC that bear responsibility to those who were badly injured or who died horrible and painful deaths as a result of having the injection of the tainted product into their bodies,” said Tom Sobol, an attorney who is on the plaintiffs steering committee, in a statement; (and here is one of the many lawsuits). The victim compensation fund will be funded by cash contributions by the owners of NECC as well as proceeds from, among other things, insurance, tax refunds and the sale of a related business. NECC's owners denied any liability or wrongdoing, but “nonetheless they strongly desire to play a major role in establishing a fund for people who died or suffered as a result of this tragic outbreak," according to a statement from Paul Moore, the NECC trustee. Further details were not disclosed, but a hearing is set for January 10 in federal court in Boston. The agreement is another prominent milestone in what has become an extended and tragic drama that, over the past year, raised sobering questions a...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs