HBSS attorneys Thomas M. Sobol and Kristen A. Johnson serve as Court-appointed Lead Counsel for the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee on behalf of plaintiff-victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak in MDL 2419 consolidated before The Honorable Rya W. Zobel in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. In addition to serving as Lead Counsel, HBSS filed multiple lawsuits on behalf of individual injured victims who were administered contaminated drugs compounded at the New England Compounding Pharmacy, Inc. d/b/a New England Compounding Center (NECC) in Framingham, Massachusetts.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed that NECC sold at least 17,000 potentially tainted steroid shots to 75 clinics in 23 states across the country, resulting in more than 64 deaths and 751 cases of fungal meningitis, stroke, or paraspinal/peripheral joint infection.
PROPOSED CHAPTER 11 PLAN
A copy of the full version of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee’s plain-English overview of the Plan and Disclosure Statement can be found here.
The Tort Trust will be funded by Settlements with National Defendants as follows with estimated amounts (subject to fees and expenses):
| National Settling Defendant | Expected Contribution |
| NECC Owners/Shareholder Settlement | $47,750,000 – 75,000,000 |
| PMIC/Maxum Settlement | $25,200,000 |
| Ameridose Settlement | $10,000,000 |
| GDC Settlement | $3,750,000 |
| ARL Settlement | $6,400,000 |
| Victory Settlement | $5,500,000 |
| UniFirst Settlement | $30,500,000 |
| Liberty Settlement | $1,000,000 |
| Total Estimated Amount: | $130,100,000 - $157,350,00 |
In addition to the Settlements with National Defendants, the Chapter 11 Trustee has entered into the following Settlements with certain clinics, hospitals and doctor’s offices that administered tainted NECC drugs (subject to fees and expenses):
| Provider Defendant | Contribution |
| High Point Settlement | $3,500,000 |
| Inspira Settlement | $16,000,000 |
| Insight Settlement | $40,000,000 |
| Total Amount: | $59,500,000 |
These Provider-Specific Funds will principally be distributed to the Tort Claimants who were administered contaminated drugs at High Point, Inspira, and Insight. Some portion of the High Point, Inspira, and Insight settlements will be available generally to pay Chapter 11 claims and expenses.
Under the Plan, in exchange for funding these Settlements, claims against the involved parties will be “released,” and any future claims barred as further described in the Plan and Disclosure Statement.
After certain payments are made to other non-tort creditors of NECC and funds are used to pay the administrative costs as required under applicable bankruptcy law, the remaining funds will be placed into the Tort Trust for the benefit of Tort Claimants.
CASE TIMELINE
NECC owners and employees arrested in connection with deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. Read the release.
NECC files $135 million settlement plan to bankruptcy judge. Read the PSC Disclosure Statement.
Hagens Berman announces $100 million settlement for victims. Read the release.
