Jurors Shown Fake Steroid Orders in Deadly Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Trial

Day three of the federal trial of a former compounding pharmacy CEO facing 25 counts of second-degree murder is underway.

Jurors heard testimony Wednesday morning about fake steroid orders filed at the New England Compounding Center, which prosecutors say was the source of a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012.

Barry Cadden, the former head and co-founder of the Framingham-based compounding pharmacy, faces 97 felony charges in total.

Nationwide, the CDC says the tainted steroids killed 64 people and sickened at least 700 more.

On Tuesday, CDC Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Park testified about the fear he felt when he realized contaminated steroid injections from NECC may have caused the deadly outbreak.

"I remember feeling very scared because we knew about 14,000 people had been injected and about half the people were dying," Dr. Park said. "I felt like I was kind of at the edge of a cliff and I couldn't really see the bottom."

NECC's supervisory pharmacist and co-founder Glenn Chin will face similar charges in a separate trial.

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