The victims of a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak were outraged to learn the man accused of causing it would be released from house arrest.
Barry Cadden, co-owner of the now defunct New England Compounding Center, was granted permission Friday to leave his Wrentham property between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. with GPS monitoring.
"To me, it's preposterous," said Kimberley Dougherty, who represents 100 victims in the case.
According to federal prosecutors, Cadden's former company is responsible for an outbreak that killed 64 people and sickened more than 700 others around the country.
Concern from victims' attorneys was echoed by several victims whose testimony was read before U.S. District Court Chief Magistrate Jennifer Boal during a hearing last week.
"If I was charged with 1 second-degree murder, I would be in jail awaiting trial and now he is asking the court for a curfew, instead of being stuck in his well-over a million dollar house," wrote one victim.
Cadden is charged with 25 counts of second-degree murder, but has been living under house arrest since 2014.
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Since 14 people were charged and given varying bail conditions, NECN has discovered other defendants in the case have also had their conditions changed by Judge Boal.
Pharmacist Michelle Thomas, who is charged with violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, was granted permission to attend the Lollapalooza music festival.
Head pharmacist Glenn Chin, who is also facing 25 counts of second-degree murder, was allowed to take a family trip to Great Wolf Lodge and attend a gluten-free and allergy expo.
"We're not talking about misdemeanors. This was second-degree murder at his hands," said Dougherty. "To know that he can go on family vacations and have dinner and have lunch and have a great time is really frustrating, I think, to a lot of the victims, to say the least."
In her ruling, Boal said she understood the feelings of victims.
"However, at this stage of the proceedings, Cadden is entitled to a presumption of innocence and the sole issue before the Court is whether the proposed conditions are the least restrictive conditions that will reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant as required," she wrote.
The trial is expected to start in January.
