The New England Compounding Center (NECC), the pharmacy linked to a deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis, filed for bankruptcy last month, seeking protection after U.S. authorities shut down its operations. Filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court reveal that the NECC’s four primary owners received at least a combined $16 million in 2012 from their salaries and shareholder distributions. Perhaps if they’d put some of that money back into the pharmacy, it wouldn’t have gone bankrupt.
In addition to some very fat stacks of cash (largest shareholder Carla Conigliaro received almost $9 million in 2012), the NECC made lease payments on two cars—a 2012 BMW X5 and a 2011 Mercedes Benz GL-550. It also paid $18,000 on Conigliaro’s American Express card to cover purchases at restaurants and the Apple Store, among other places.
U.S. authorities claim that the NECC shipped thousands of vials of steroids contaminated with fungus to medical facilities across the country, leading to the outbreak of meningitis that has killed 44 people and sickened 678 more.
Read more at Thomson Reuters.
Follow the story of the meningitis outbreak on InsideCounsel:
Manufacturer of allegedly contaminated steroid tries to distance itself from meningitis outbreak
Chief pharmacist of contaminated steroid manufacturer subpoenaed for meningitis hearing
Lawsuits against pharmacy that allegedly caused meningitis outbreak on the rise in Michigan
