Pharmacy owners arrested over deadly meningitis outbreak

Two co-founders and 12 other former employees of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy blamed for a fungal meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people were arrested early Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Boston said.

Tainted steroids manufactured by the pharmacy were blamed for the 2012 outbreak. About 750 people in 20 states developed meningitis or other infections after receiving the contaminated drugs. Michigan, Tennessee and Indiana were the hardest-hit states.

Gregory Conigliaro and Barry Cadden, co-founders of the New England Compounding Center (NECC) in Framingham, Massachusetts, were among 14 people arrested at their homes around the state, attorney's office spokeswoman Christina DiIorio-Sterling said.

One of those arrested was Glenn Adam Chin, a former supervisory pharmacist, who had been charged with mail fraud in September.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Carmen Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said 131 charges were filed against the 14 suspects. 

The compounding pharmacy failed to comply with the "most basic health standards," Ortiz alleged. In 2012, monitors found mold and bacteria in 37 of 38 weeks the lab tested, Ortiz added.

The indictment alleges that NECC failed to institute recalls on products known to be contaminated, as well as approving the use of expired drugs.  

Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart Delery said NECC management and pharmacists approved the sale and distribution of fake prescriptions, putting the public in danger.

Compounding pharmacies like NECC are regulated by the states, not by the stricter Food and Drug Administration, which oversees drug manufacturers. 

The pharmacy gave up its license and filed for bankruptcy protection after it was flooded with hundreds of lawsuits filed by victims and their families.

NECC was founded in 1998 by brothers-in-law Cadden and Conigliaro. Cadden, who is married to Conigliaro's sister, Lisa, earned a pharmacy degree from the University of Rhode Island. Conigliaro is an engineer.

Al Jazeera and wire services