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Verdict reached in trial over deadly US meningitis outbreak

FILE - In this March 16, 2017, file photo, Barry Cadden arrives at the federal courthouse in Boston. A verdict has been reached Wednesday, March 22, 2017, in the case. Cadden, president of New England Compounding Center, faces multiple counts in a fungal meningitis outbreak from tainted steroids manufactured by the pharmacy, which killed dozens and sickened hundreds of people in 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File) FILE - In this March 16, 2017, file photo, Barry Cadden arrives at the federal courthouse in Boston. A verdict has been reached Wednesday, March 22, 2017, in the case. Cadden, president of New England Compounding Center, faces multiple counts in a fungal meningitis outbreak from tainted steroids manufactured by the pharmacy, which killed dozens and sickened hundreds of people in 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

By Associated Press March 22, 2017 1 min read

BOSTON (AP) – A verdict has been reached in the trial of a Massachusetts pharmacy co-founder charged in a nationwide meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people and sickened 700 others in 2012.

Barry Cadden is charged with 25 counts of second-degree murder, conspiracy and other charges under the federal racketeering law.

The U.S. attorney’s office says the verdict will be read Wednesday morning.

The fungal meningitis outbreak was traced to contaminated steroid injections manufactured by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham.

Prosecutors said Cadden ran the New England Compounding Center in Framingham in an “extraordinarily dangerous” way by skirting industry regulations on sterility and cleanliness in an effort to push production and make more money.

His lawyers said he wasn’t responsible for the deaths.