The former head of a Massachusetts pharmacy was acquitted Wednesday of murder allegations but convicted of racketeering and other crimes in a meningitis outbreak that was traced to fungus-contaminated drugs and killed 64 people across the country. Cadden, president and co-founder of the now-closed New England Compounding Center, was charged with 25 counts of second-degree murder, conspiracy and other offenses under federal racketeering law. After five days of deliberations, the jury refused to hold Cadden responsible for the deaths and cleared him on the murder counts. Joan Peay, 76, of Nashville, Tennessee, suffered two bouts of meningitis after receiving a shot for back pain. "At the same time, it is Barry's fervent wish ... that people still remember the victims of this terrible public health outbreak."

Source: Egypt Independent March 24, 2017 09:56 UTC