Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor convicted in US opioid case
A Boston jury found Kapoor and four colleagues conspired to bribe doctors to prescribe addictive painkillers, often to patients who didn’t need them.
The former billionaire was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy for his role in a scheme which also misled insurers.
Tens of thousands of deaths have been caused by opioid overdoses in the US.
Indian-born Kapoor founded drugmaker Insys Therapeutics in 1990 and built it into a multi-billion dollar company.
The jury found Kapoor had also misled medical insurance companies about patients’ need for the painkillers in order to boost sales of the firm’s fentanyl spray, Subsys.
Fentanyl is estimated up to one 100 times stronger than morphine and is usually only prescribed for severe pain arising in cases like treatment for cancer.
The strongest legal treatments are usually only available by prescription from a doctor and include:
morphine
tramadol
fentanyl
methadone
diamorphine
alfentanil
BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48143094
What are opioids and what are the risks? – BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-43462975
Opioid Trial: Insys Executive John Kapoor Guilty Of A Racketeering Conspiracy : NPR