Two former pharmacists of a Massachusetts drug compounding center blamed for a meningitis outbreak described as the deadliest ever to be caused by a prescription drug, have been sentenced, according to The Tenneseean.
Gene Svirskiy was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison; Christopher Leary was sentenced to eight months of home confinement and two years of probation. Both worked at the now-defunct New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass.
Mr. Svirskiy was convicted of racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud and violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, which aims to protect consumers against improper manufacturing practices. Mr. Leary was convicted of mail fraud and violations of the same act.
While the convictions stemmed from an investigation into a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak caused by a contaminated steroid manufactured at the facility, Mr. Svirsky and Mr. Leary were not charged in connection to the drug that caused the meningitis outbreak. They were charged for their roles in producing other drugs, including those that were mislabeled, misbranded and untested.
The two men were among five former employees of the compounding center found guilty of violating the safe manufacturing rule in a federal trial in Boston late last year.
Read the full report here.