The New England Compounding Center has filed for bankruptcy protection, but is facing numerous lawsuits from fungal meningitis victims and their families. Image: patch.com
No charges have been filed so far against the New England compounding pharmacy at the center of the fungal meningitis outbreak, which killed more than a dozen in Tennessee. A state attorney general and a federal prosecutor say they’re now sharing evidence from their separate investigations.
A federal grand jury in Boston has been investigating the New England Compounding Center for more than a year. A Michigan grand jury is also looking into the company, which made tainted steroid injections blamed for causing the outbreak. That state had over than 260 fungal meningitis cases, but the illness was first uncovered in Tennessee. More than 150 were sickened here. Boston US Attorney Carmen Oritz says neither investigation is ready issue indictments or charge individuals.
“It’s a very complex, wide-ranging investigation I believe it’s moving very steadily forward. But no charges have been filed, as of yet,” Ortiz said at a press conference in Detroit Monday morning, alongside Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.
Meanwhile, the FBI is asking anyone who received the tainted injections to fill out a questionnaire on its website. The New England Compounding Center is facing numerous civil lawsuits from fungal meningitis victims and family members of those who died from the illness.
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