The now-defunct pharmacy behind a deadly 2012 meningitis outbreak that killed at least 64 people will pay out $200 million to its victims and creditors under an approved bankruptcy reorganization plan, Reuters reported yesterday. The New England Compounding Center (NECC) also sickened about 750 people across the U.S. three years ago by shipping steroids typically used to treat back pain despite being aware that the drugs were contaminated with fungal meningitis. The payout will include about $18 million seized from the Framingham, Mass.-based company's founders and its chief pharmacist, one of two people charged in December with second-degree murder for his role in the scheme. NECC shut down in October 2012 and declared chapter 11 bankruptcy two months later. The case led to strict new U.S. regulations on compounding pharmacies, which mix drugs but had previously been treated with a lighter hand than registered drug manufacturers. Deaths of patients occurred in Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, and 14 people associated with the company now face criminal charges.
