We were the first firm to file pioneering cases in Massachusetts on behalf of several individuals who were victims in an outbreak of fungal meningitis traced to contaminated steroid injections that have sickened nearly 500 people and killed more than 30. To date we have filed three separate cases, with filing in process on at least one additional case.
In one case, we are representing a 51-year-old Michigan woman who was one of the initial patients to receive the injections. Our client developed the life-threatening fungal meningitis disease as well as a painful nerve-related infection after receiving an epidural injection of the steroid methylprednisolone for back pain at a Michigan pain clinic. The steroid was provided by a Massachusetts company, New England Compounding Center (NECC), at which federal and state regulators found problems dating to 2003. These included evidence of environmental mold and fungus from filthy conditions that created product contamination, as well as bulk distribution of drugs contrary to regulations that require compounding pharmacies to mix custom drugs to order for specific prescriptions.
On behalf of our clients, we are seeking monetary damages and criminal penalties against the company and its agents. Our groundbreaking work on this case was covered by MSNBC in multiple stories that can be found on the NBC news site.
"Our investigation into the depth of the wrongdoing by NECC and its four owners has only hit the tip of the iceberg. The pain and suffering inflicted upon NECC's victims greatly exceeds the $70 million that insiders have depleted from the company over the past few years. We will continue in our attempts to seize not only the company's assets, but those of the individual wrongdoers.
S. v. New England Compounding Center (NECC)
