While Arthur Andersen is defending itself against criminal charges in Houston, Greater Cincinnati employees and clients are abandoning the embattled accounting firm.

        About 10 Andersen professionals have been hired locally by Deloitte & Touche, its managing director Greg Bier confirmed Tuesday. Mr. Bier declined to be specific about what division the hires were in, saying that more hires from Andersen were “in process.”

        Also Tuesday, Meridian Bioscience said it was dropping Andersen as its auditor and hiring PricewaterhouseCoopers instead.

        The Newtown-based medical-test manufacturer said Tuesday its audit committee made the move after a two-month search.

        “We believe the PricewaterhouseCoopers team has the health-care industry and international experience to deliver high-quality auditing and tax services to Meridian,” chairman and CEO William J. Motto said in a statement. “We look forward to working with them as our independent public accountants.”

        Calls to Andersen officials were not returned.

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