5 NYC doctors took over $800,000 in bribes from drug maker to prescribe opioid

[Miles Archer]

Feds say 5 NYC doctors took bribes from drug maker to prescribe opioid
by TOM WINTER and TRACY CONNOR

Five Manhattan doctors were paid more than $800,000 by a pharmaceutical company to prescribe a spray version of the highly potent and addictive opioid fentanyl to more and more patients whether they needed it or not, according to an indictment handed up Friday in federal court.

The money was earmarked as "speaker fees" for educational lectures on the drug that the doctors had agreed to give to medical professionals. In reality, according to federal prosecutors, the "lectures" were just booze-fueled social gatherings, and the fees were kickbacks paid to prescribe the drug, Subsys.

And doctors who went along with the arrangement got other perks, prosecutors say: tickets to sporting events, free meals delivered to their office workers, casino and nightclub outings and an evening of lap dances at a strip club -- all paid for by the drugmaker, Insys Therapeutics.

On Friday, the five physicians, several of whom are affiliated with prestigious hospitals, were indicted on conspiracy and other charges that carry up to 20 years in prison. Drs. Gordon Freedman, Jeffrey Goldstein, Todd Schlifstein, Dialecti Voudouris and Alexandru Burducea all pleaded not guilty and were released on $200,000 bond each.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/feds-say-5-nyc-doctors-took-bribes-drug-maker-prescribe-n857476

[Docreed2003]

1. Disgusting...

These five abandoned everything we in the profession are supposed to stand for. Absolutely disgusting, and I hope every one of the fucks is nailed by the NY Medical board and lose their ability to “practice medicine”...I but parentheses because clearly they weren’t providing care, they were working for their kickbacks.

[exboyfil]

3. And their dealers?

I hope they are punished as well to the maximum extent of the law.

[Stuart G]

14. If you read posts 9,10,11, and 12...the people who sold the stuff to the doctors

and others in the company, and the owner..have also been charged. The government got the all. Not just the doctors, but all of them...

[dawg day]

2. will Trump call for the death penalty?

[Hekate]

7. That was exactly my first thought

[tenderfoot]

13. beat me to it

[malaise]

4. LOCK THEM UP! n/t

[kacekwl]

5. Must be all those drugs

pouring in over the border. Build the wall !

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. Who was the drugmaker?

And what charges are they facing?

[Hekate]

8. This

[Stuart G]

9. Got a surprise for you on this one.. Owner of company charged also, now out on bail..

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2017/11/16/fentanyl-billionaire-john-kapoor-to-plead-not-guilty-in-opioid-kickback-case/#89b349b6c6c6

If you hit this link, you will see that the billionaire owner of the drug company that makes this stuff...the owners name is John Kapoor, has been charged with illegal activities with trying to get doctors to prescribe this stuff.

below is an excerpt from the above article:
__________________________________________________________________________________
from Forbes.. Nov 17, 2017..

Jamel Toppin for Forbes[+]

Fentanyl billionaire John Kapoor is set to plead not guilty this morning on charges of racketeering, mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback law.

The founder and former CEO and chairman of Chandler, Ariz.-based Insys Therapeutics, Kapoor became a billionaire in 2013 because of the skyrocketing sales of that company’s Subsys, a form of the powerful opioid fentanyl that is sprayed under the tongue. He was arrested and charged on October 26 for allegedly leading a conspiracy to use fraud and bribes to market the drug and is set to appear in federal court in Boston this morning for his arraignment.
____________________________________________________________________________

Therefore, not only were the doctors charged, but the owner of the drug company that makes the stuff was charged with "racketeering, mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback law"... And he was charged before the doctors were charged. I am sure that John Kapoor the owner, was absolutely sure that he could get away with this "scheme"

On the cost. I looked up the cost of this stuff. 4 packages of 30 spray bottles...$23,000 (I guess that would be 120 sprays of this painkiller.....here is a link on the cost..

https://www.goodrx.com/subsys

[Initech]

10. Another corrupt pharmaceutical company owned by a billionaire doing something illegal?

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!

[Stuart G]

11. We are all shocked...but this billionare has been charged with 4 crimes...Perhaps I was still

composing the post about the charges.
.He was charged before the doctors were charged..Last November...This guy is out on a $1,000,000 bond ...please see post .. #9.... for more information.

[Stuart G]

12. Two former employees..have agreed to cooperate with the government on this:

Dated March 16, 2018

___________________________________________________________________________________
https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2018/03/16/insys-kickbacks-subsys-opioids-fentanyl/

Two former Insys Therapeutics sales employees have agreed to cooperate with a federal government probe that prosecutors have described as a “nationwide conspiracy” to profit from illegally distributing an opioid medication.

Jonathan Roper, a former district sales manager, and Fernando Serrano, a former sales representative, also pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks to doctors in order to boost prescriptions for the Subsys painkiller, which contains fentanyl, a powerful and addictive opioid, prosecutors said Friday.
________________________________________________________________________________________

What this means,,,,is there is proof that kickbacks were paid..That is the individuals who actually paid the "kickbacks" on this, have pleaded guilty to crimes surrounding this...Therefore, they have agreed to cooperate with the government. What that means is these two will testify against the others in court that they did indeed pay doctors to prescribe this stuff. They committed the crime on orders from the owner.

They will testify who ordered them to bribe the doctors....The doctors are screwed..and most important...the owner is totally screwed......... Who will the jury believe, the owner who is a billionare...from the sale of this stuff.......or the...people who were ordered by the owner to pay off the doctors..(the middle man so to speak)

So, the prosecutors have gotten the owner and he is going to jail. Well...he thinks he can avoid jail, but with others testifying against him, .who have pleaded guilty, it looks like the government got him..totally...This is dated yesterday...March 16, 2018....so the owner, John Kapoor, just learned, there is proof against him. yesterday....

[Stuart G]

15. Please read posts 9,10,11, and 12...those posts answer your question..

In short, the government got them all..but please read the posts to get more info.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

16. My post was #6

So that info wasn't available yet. But thanks for the heads up.