Victims Take Steps To Preserve Assets Of Troubled Compounding Pharmacy

BOSTON, Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Brown Rudnick LLP, acting for and together with a number of other attorneys representing victims, yesterday asked a Massachusetts state court to appoint a receiver to take over all legal and  business affairs of the New England Compounding Center (NECC), the compounding pharmacy at the center of the deadly fungal meningitis outbreak.

Acting for victims who received injections of tainted steroids traced to NECC, Brown Rudnick asked that an independent third party take over NECC. The petition for receivership was filed in Middlesex Superior Court yesterday.  The court set December 3 for hearing on the receivership application and Brown Rudnick's motion for expedited discovery, which includes the taking of sworn depositions of certain NECC's principals and managers (Barry Cadden, Gregory Conigliaro and Lisa Conigliaro-Cadden) and the production of material documents to Brown Rudnick identifying the assets of NECC and all transfers of these assets to NECC's principals, managers, relatives and attorneys.   

In requesting a receivership, Brown Rudnick is seeking to protect and preserve NECC assets for the benefit of all of its creditors in a fair and equitable manner pending the outcome of litigation brought by victims who have filed suits against the company in Massachusetts and across the country.

"We are in the dark about what this company may be doing with its assets," says Anne Andrews of Andrews & Thornton, Irvine, Calif., co-counsel with Brown Rudnick, who represents more than a hundred victims who received the corrupted drug. "This action, along with our request for expedited discovery, offers needed transparency to all interested parties."

To date, the outbreak has already killed 34 people and sickened 461, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The toll is expected to rise. More than 14,000 people have been exposed to the drugs, which are injected to ease back pain.

"With the company shuttered and the number of victims rising, Brown Rudnick, together with co-counsel, are acting to protect the interests of all who have been harmed by these contaminated drugs," says Brown Rudnick partner David Molton.

According to Jim Stoll, also of Brown Rudnick, "The victims now can look forward to the Court having an opportunity to replace the NECC management that allowed the distribution of contaminated steroids with a neutral, court-appointed receiver who will protect NECC's assets for the benefit of all victims and other creditors." 

For more information, please visit www.brownrudnick.com. 

SOURCE Brown Rudnick LLP