A family affair
The worst human-induced epidemic of
the 20
th
century had its beginnings on an
East Coast college campus in the '80s,
the day Lisa Conigliaro met Barry
Cadden at the University of
Rhode Island College of
Pharmacy. They would fall in
love, marry, have 3 children,
move into a charming converted
barn and work as retail pharma-
cists in Rhode Island. Perhaps
they'd still be living a quiet life
today — perhaps 800-plus
patients would, too — if Lisa
had been an only child. But she
wasn't.
The year the Caddens gradu-
ated, Lisa's entrepreneurial
Disaster
A note from the editor
While we interviewed several experts
for this story, most of the details
derive from more than 100 docu-
ments related to the case. They
included reports from FDA and the
Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy,
the results of Congressional investi-
gations, the grand jury indictment,
the testimony of FBI Special Agent
Clayton Phelps, bankruptcy docu-
ments, numerous lawsuits, news
stories and much more. It's impor-
tant to note that most of the informa-
tion came from people who were
adversaries of the principals of
NECC. While Outpatient Surgery made
every effort to report fairly, the truth
is that we know very little about the
perspectives of Barry Cadden, Glenn
Chin, the Conigliaro family and oth-
ers involved in the compounding dis-
aster. Their side of the story has not
been told. We may learn more about
that starting next month, when the
first of the NECC trials begins.
J U L Y 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 3 9
