
A Massachusetts pharmacist has pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of 11 individuals in Michigan due to tainted steroids that led to a national meningitis outbreak in 2012. The pharmacist, aged 56, will be sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison in October, with credit for a longer federal sentence for separate crimes.
The pharmacist's defense attorney stated that further incarceration should not be imposed after the current federal sentence, avoiding a lengthy trial for the court and the people of Michigan. The pharmacist's boss, who also pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter, had second-degree murder charges dropped.