Spectrum

How safe are the special drug compounds you take or put in or on your body? Most people, today, think that they are pretty safe but that has not always been the case. Back in 2012, the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts produced 18,000 vials of a contaminated steroid that was distributed across about 20 states. The tainted compound, to date, has sickened 751 people with fungal meningitis and related illnesses. At last total, there were 64 deaths. In 2015, the company reached a $200 million civil settlement to victims and various creditors but, as of today, nothing has been paid. The federal government also has charged company head Barry J. Cadden, 50, with 96 criminal counts including 25 counts for racketeering acts of second-degree murder. A trial began in Boston on January 9 and the jury just started its deliberations on March 17. No verdicts have been reached at the time of this recording. If convicted of the murder counts, Cadden could be facing life in prison. Today, we talk w