Partner George Varghese was recently featured in an episode of CNBC’s American Greed docuseries which aired on January 27, 2020. The episode, titled “Painful Greed Turns Deadly,” focuses on the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak tied to the now-defunct Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center (NECC).
NECC co-founder and CEO Barry Cadden and some employees were convicted of knowingly distributing contaminated steroid injections to clinics nationwide after an outbreak of fungal meningitis, a rare disease, in patients who received drug products produced by NECC. A series of investigations by the Federal Drug Administration and the Massachusetts State Board of Pharmacy revealed unsanitary conditions and improper practices at NECC’s labs, along with evidence that Mr. Cadden knew of the problems but did not correct them while continuing to ship the dangerous medications.
Mr. Varghese, an assistant US attorney involved in the criminal investigation, details the case that led to Mr. Cadden’s conviction. Noted as one of the worst public health crises caused by a pharmaceutical drug, the outbreak harmed 793 patients, leading to more than 100 deaths.
Varghese states in the episode: “What’s so important to learn from that experience was that Barry Cadden was on notice… that if you don’t do these things correctly, people can die.”