New $200M Settlement Proposed In NECC Meningitis Outbreak
BOSTON (CBS) - Lawyers involved in settlement talks for New England Compounding Center confirm to WBZ that a federal judge in the bankruptcy case has given verbal approval to a $200 million settlement for victims of a meningitis outbreak. That's $100 million more than the original settlement proposal.
Sixty four people died and another 751 were injured after being injected by tainted steroids made by NECC in Framingham in 2012.
Attorney David Moulton says he expects the judge to sign off on the plan by Wednesday.
Those who suffered the most in the outbreak will get the most out of the settlement. It's believed that victims could start seeing checks this fall.
The owners of NECC are responsible for about $50 million of the $200 million settlement. The owners' insurance companies are on the hook for another $35 million.
Others paying into this settlement include those who designed and installed NECC clean rooms, testing lab and cleaners.
"This is a tremendous achievement to deliver a plan that would provide relief to victims and a modicum of justice for the injuries they sustained," Moulton said Tuesday.
Kim Dougherty, a Boston attorney whose firm represents dozens of victims, and who also worked on this settlement, says other people have died from tainted NECC steroids since the CDC stopped counting at 64.
"We are hopeful victims will get compensation as early as the fall if all goes smoothly," Dougherty says. "We are happy about what we have been able to do."