The Conspiracy and Mail Fraud in the Pharmacy Companies

Why is it getting harder for corporations to make sound decisions based on what is morally right, instead of cutting corners to make bigger productions? Upon doing my research, I came across an article, which involved a corporation called New England Compounding Center (NECC). There were many things that had gone horrible wrong within NECC, that could have been prevented by having stricter polices and better guidelines for all employees to follow. Because of these wrongful actions that were caused by the NECC many people got hurt, and many questions started to form from federal authorities, Congress, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Brady Dennis from the Washington Post stated that the head Supervising Pharmacist Glenn Adam Chin instructed his staff members to fraudulently fill out logs to show documentation that their compounding rooms were being cleaned and maintained, but records had shown that the NECC had found sources of bacteria, and mold within the compounding rooms (Brady Dennis, 2014). Mr. Chin also instructed his employees to label the vials of methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) as “injectable” making it look like the product was safe for human use, when he knew that the drugs being compounding with were expired and unsanitary procedures were being over looked (Brady Dennis, 2014).

According to Brandon Gee, there were a total of one hundred and thirty-one indictment; which included six pharmacists, the director of operations, the national sales director, and unlicensed pharmacy technician, two NECC owners, and one affiliated sales company, in which the crimes ranged from racketeering, mail fraud, conspiracy, contempt, structuring, and violations of the Food and Drug Administration (Brandon Gee of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly). The group of employees committed conspiracy and mail fraud when they shipped out mass orders of the product using fake names such as; employees and celebrities for it to look like it was for an individual patient with a prescription (Brandon Gee of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly). The two NECC owners committed racketeering and structuring when they fraudulently transferred thirty-three million in assets in violation of the restraining order and preliminary injunctive relief order that was issued by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (Brandon Gee of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly).

When Mr. Chin decided to become a pharmacist, he took an oath to protect his patients, but somewhere down the line he had forgotten his moral obligation. According to the New York Post more than 750 individuals from twenty states had contracted meningitis from the contaminated batches that were sent out by the NECC, and 64 of those individuals died from the meningitis (Associated Press, 2014). Because of Mr. Chins actions as the supervising pharmacist at NECC the U.S. District Court sentenced him to eight years in prison, two years supervised release and forfeiture and restitution in an amount to be determined later, and as a result he will no longer be able to practice as a pharmacist for his involvement in the NECC tragedy (Office of Regulatory Affairs, 'New England Compounding Center Pharmacist Sentenced For Role in').

This whole tragedy could have been prevented if Mr. Chin and the NECC would have properly trained their employees on how to sterilize the equipment in their compounding rooms to ensure that the products they are making were fit for human use. Mr. Chin should have kept a daily log stating the date and time of each sterilization with a signature from him and another pharmacist. The NECC should have set a standard safety test in place for each batch of medication being sent out, so they could have avoided any tragedies. Mr. Chin should have kept a daily log of who had made the batch and the dates of when they were completed, and there should also have been a log with each vials name, lot, and expiration to ensure no mix-ups or expired medications were being used.

Because of the actions of NECC and Mr. Chin, Congress is going to give the FDA broader authority so they are able to oversee compounding pharmacies to ensure that drugs are made under high quality conditions and no patient is at risk of harm due to poorly compounded products ever again (Office of Regulatory Affairs, 'New England Compounding Center Pharmacist Sentenced For Role in”). Let’s hope that we all have learned from this tragic event, wither we work in the medical field or not we each can teach one another how to do the right thing even though we might not like the outcome that it may bring.