NATIONAL NEWS

A lab chief’s sentencing for meningitis deaths is postponed, extending grief of victims’ families

Apr 18, 2024, 10:15 AM

HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge on Thursday suddenly postponed the sentencing of a man at the center of a fatal meningitis outbreak that hit multiple states, dismaying people who were poised to speak about their grief 12 years after the tragedy.

The judge who took a no-contest plea from Barry Cadden retired in March. But the defense attorney and the prosecutor said they still expected Michael Hatty would return to impose a minimum 10-year prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter.

Instead, Judge Matthew McGivney inherited the case. He postponed the sentencing until May 10 to clear up the confusion, upsetting many people who were ready to give statements.

A woman cried outside the Livingston County courtroom, 60 miles (96.5 kilometers) northwest of Detroit.

Peggy Nuerenberg, whose 88-year-old mother, Mary Plettl, died after getting a tainted steroid injection for pain, said she was “absolutely blindsided.”

“How things developed today were disrespectful to the victims who worked hard to prepare statements on behalf of their loved one,” Nuerenberg told The Associated Press.

Another knotty issue: McGivney’s wife works for the state attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting Cadden.

“I’m not inclined to disqualify myself,” the judge said.

Michigan is the only state to prosecute Cadden for deaths related to mold-tainted steroids created at New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts, and shipped to pain clinics around the country.

More than 700 people in 20 states were sickened with meningitis or other debilitating illnesses and at least 64 died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cadden and a key employee at the lab, Glenn Chin, were charged with second-degree murder for 11 of Michigan’s 19 deaths. Cadden recently chose to plead no contest to involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors have agreed to a minimum sentence of 10 years of prison. But they also agreed to let the sentence run at the same time as Cadden’s current 14 1/2-year prison term for federal crimes related to the scandal.

That means he is unlikely to face additional time in custody for the Michigan deaths.

“It’s a joke,” said Gene Keyes, whose 79-year-old mother, Sally Roe, died in 2012. “The attorney general said most of the families agreed to it to put this matter behind us. I was one who wanted to go to trial. He’s not going to serve any more time and that’s wrong.”

Keyes said Cadden put “greed over people.”

Compounding pharmacies make versions of medications that often aren’t available through larger drugmakers. But Cadden’s lab was a mess, investigators said, leading to the growth of mold in the manufacturing process.

Chin has not reached a similar plea deal, court filings show, and his trial on 11 second-degree murder charges is pending. Separately, he is serving a 10 1/2-year federal sentence.

Ken Borton survived the tainted steroids but still has chronic problems. Twelve years later, he walks with a cane, stutters with his speech and said he “can’t remember anything.”

“I’ll never be what I used to be,” Borton said outside court.

___

Follow Ed White at https://twitter.com/edwritez

National News

Associated Press

Manhattan rooftop fire sends plumes of dark smoke into skyline

NEW YORK (AP) — A fire on the roof of a 44-story luxury apartment building sent plumes of dark smoke into the New York City skyline on Thursday. The fire in the Hudson Yards mixed-use development on Manhattan’s west side was first reported at about 11:30 a.m., the city fire department said. It was declared […]

2 minutes ago

FILE - Janelle Bynum, the Democratic candidate running to represent Oregon's 5th Congressional Dist...

Associated Press

Democrat Janelle Bynum flips Oregon’s 5th District, will be state’s first Black member of Congress

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Democrat Janelle Bynum has flipped Oregon’s 5th Congressional District and will become the state’s first Black member of Congress. Bynum, a state representative who was backed and funded by national Democrats, ousted freshman GOP U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Republicans lost a seat that they flipped red for the first time in […]

26 minutes ago

FILE- Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ranking Member Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speak...

Associated Press

Rand Paul wants to bring back Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy as a Senate chair

Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that he will lead the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where he intends to immediately take up President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to reinstate a policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. Paul said he will be the committee’s new chair […]

32 minutes ago

FILE — Teachers and supporters display placards during a rally, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Glouces...

Associated Press

2 striking teacher unions in Massachusetts face growing fines for refusing to return to classroom

BOSTON (AP) — Two of the three striking teacher unions in Massachusetts have been fined for refusing to return to the classroom. Judges on Tuesday imposed fines of $50,000 a day for the unions in Beverly and Gloucester that would rise by $10,000 a day as long as they remain on strike. The unions voted […]

33 minutes ago

Associated Press

AP Race Call: Democrat Janelle Bynum wins election to U.S. House in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, beating incumbent Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Democrat Janelle Bynum won election to a U.S. House seat representing Oregon on Thursday, defeating Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. The district, which includes the Portland suburbs and stretches through Bend, was a top target for Democrats hoping to recapture the House majority. Democrats lost this seat in 2022, when Jamie McLeod-Skinner defeated seven-term Democratic Rep. […]

40 minutes ago

FILE - Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., arrives during the second day of the Republican National Convention...

Associated Press

What Republicans are saying about Matt Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s nomination to be President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general has created a remarkable amount of pushback from Republicans otherwise inclined to follow Trump’s wishes. Gaetz is unpopular with many fellow House Republicans for his push to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a long trail of stories about his personal conduct, including […]

49 minutes ago

A lab chief’s sentencing for meningitis deaths is postponed, extending grief of victims’ families