Ex-Insys executives arrested for bribing U.S. doctors to prescribe painkiller

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. | Thu Dec 8, 2016 | 7:16pm EST

Ex-Insys executives arrested for bribing U.S. doctors to prescribe painkiller

By Nate Raymond

Six former Insys Therapeutics Inc executives and managers were arrested on Thursday on charges they engaged in a nationwide scheme to bribe doctors to unnecessarily prescribe a drug containing the opioid fentanyl, U.S. prosecutors said.

Michael Babich, the Arizona-based drugmaker's former chief executive officer, and others were charged with participating in a conspiracy in which bribes were disguised as marketing event and speaker fees.

The case is the latest involving Subsys, a spray approved for managing pain in cancer patients that contains the synthetic opioid fentanyl, as authorities try to stem a nationwide epidemic of opioid abuse.

The indictment filed in federal court in Boston said beyond the bribes, Babich and another defendant also created a scheme to mislead insurers, which were reluctant to pay for Subsys for patients without cancer.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-insys-court-idUSKBN13X27M

[ReverendHeretic]

1. My aching fucking b

I was hit by a drunk. She was fine, I was crippled, and had multiple surgeries.
The pain never went away.
After neuro consults, ortho consults, acupressure, acupuncture, Tai Chi, chiro, and more, my family doc sent me to a Pain Clinic.

WORST THING EVER.

They stepped up my meds, from valium, oxycodone, hydrocondone, morphine, and finally Fentanyl patches.

No pain relief, but frankly, I simply did not care. I still was in agony, and the meds did not help. The Fen cloud, however, was scary. Memory loss, concentration loss, and still a constant, horrible pain.

Then, when driving, I thought I was flying a 747 on a busy, speeding tollway, and realized just how bad those meds were. I went cold turkey, threw away about $5000 worth (street value) of Fen, and shivered for 3 days.

I now refuse any and all opioids and will refuse them in the future. Them bastards wanted to addict us. They have succeeded beyond all imagination.

[nitpicker]

2. Link to DoJ PR

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/pharmaceutical-executives-charged-racketeering-scheme