CNN has reported that the owners of a now defunct New England compounding pharmacy responsible for a nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 have agreed to establish a $100 million fund for victims.
This settlement is only preliminary and must be approved by a judge before it is finalized.
In a statement, the owners of the bankrupt pharmacy said that the establishment of this fund is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing. They claim they are willing to make the money available to help the families of those who died and individuals who suffered injuries “as a result of this tragic outbreak.”
The “tragic outbreak” sickened 700 people and killed more than 60 nationwide. Health officials linked the outbreak to contaminated epidural steroid injections distributed by the compounding pharmacy, New England Compounding Center. Several pain clinics in California received tainted lots of the pain-killing drug, including two in the southern California area.
The California Department of Public Health claims that as many as 600 patients in California may have received contaminated steroid injections.
The settlement, if finalized, does not mean the end of litigation in this case. Additional parties, including pain clinics and physicians who administered the injections or who advised getting them, may still be held liable for deaths and injuries caused by the tainted drug.
The hue and cry raised over the outbreak resulted in the shutdown of several unsanitary compounding pharmacies and instigated politicians to call for an overhaul of compounding pharmacy regulations across the nation.
Do you have questions about this settlement and how it may affect you? If you or a loved one was injured or sickened by a contaminated pain-killing injection, call the attorneys at the Law Offices of Reneé J. Nordstrand. You may be eligible to receive compensation from this proposed settlement.
Call us at our Santa Barbara office (805) 962-2022 or our Encino office (818) 981-3530. We can also be contacted online. Your consultation is free.