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Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor found guilty of bribing doctors

pharmafile | May 3, 2019 | News story | Medical Communications |  Insys Therapeutics, John Kapoor, Subsys, fentanyl, opioid crisis, opioids, pharma 

The founder of opioid drugmaker Insys Therapeutics has been found guilty of bribing doctors in order to persuade them to prescribe the fentanyl-based painkiller Subsys.

A Boston jury found John Kapoor guilty of racketeering conspiracy after the billionaire pharma chief was found to have bribed doctors and defrauded insurance companies, as part of an effort to boost sales of the sublingual fentanyl spray Subsys.

While Subsys had been approved for patients with terminal cancer, the company targeted patients with non-life threatening chronic pain.

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Meanwhile the firm ran a scheme that paid bribes to doctors to speak at fake marketing events where they would promote Subsys.

Prosecutors alleged the firm’s actions fuelled the ongoing opioid crisis, which has killed an estimated 400,000 Americans over the past twenty years.

Four other Insys executives – Michael Gurry, Richard Simon, Sunrise Lee and Joseph Rowan – were also found guilty of similar racketeering charges, each of whom face up to 20 years in prison.

Louis Goss

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