BOSTON — Two pharmacists have been convicted of approving shipments of falsified prescriptions while working at a now-defunct Massachusetts pharmacy blamed for a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak.
Court records show Michelle Thomas and and Kathy Chin were found guilty by a federal jury in Boston Thursday of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud and mislead.
The charges were not directly linked to the deaths or the contaminated drug.
Thomas, an assistant pharmacy professor at University of Rhode Island, and Chin worked at New England Compounding Center. More than a dozen people in all were charged in connection with the outbreak that prosecutors say killed more than 100 people and sickened hundreds more.
Thomas’ lawyer, Michael Bourbeau, told the Providence Journal the case appeared to be one of guilt by association.
