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posted by martyb on Thursday January 31 2019, @07:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the save-the-last-[lap]-dance-for-me?? dept.

Insys exec allegedly gave lap dance to doctor while pushing deadly opioid

A former regional sales director for Insys Therapeutics allegedly gave a lap dance to a doctor as the company was pushing him to prescribe its deadly opioid painkiller to patients. That's according to multiple reports of testimony given Tuesday from a former Insys colleague in a federal court in Boston.

The testimony is part of a federal racketeering trial getting underway this week against Insys founder John Kapoor and four former executives, including the sales director, Sunrise Lee. Federal prosecutors allege that the Insys executives used bribes and kickbacks to get doctors to prescribe the company's powerful and addictive fentanyl spray, called Subsys—which was intended only for cancer patients experiencing pain that's not alleviated by other medications (aka "breakthrough pain"). The former executives are also accused of misleading and defrauding health insurance companies that ended up covering the drug for patients who did not need it. A congressional investigation in 2017 concluded that Insys sales representatives bluntly lied and tricked insurers to do that—and the investigators released the tapes to prove it.

Previously: Opioid Crisis Official; Insys Therapeutics Billionaire Founder Charged; Walgreens Stocks Narcan
The More Opioids Doctors Prescribe, the More Money They Make


Original Submission

Related Stories

Opioid Crisis Official; Insys Therapeutics Billionaire Founder Charged; Walgreens Stocks Narcan 98 comments

"The best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from abusing drugs in the first place. If they don't start, they won't have a problem." – President Donald J. Trump

President Trump has declared the "Opioid Crisis" a nationwide public health emergency. This action will allow for "expanded access to telemedicine services" to remotely prescribe medicines for substance abuse, allow the Department of Health and Human Services to "more quickly make temporary appointments of specialists with the tools and talent needed to respond effectively to our Nation's ongoing public health emergency", allow the Department of Labor to issue dislocated worker grants for those "displaced from the workforce" due to the Opioid Crisis, and will help people with HIV/AIDS to receive substance abuse treatment. The press release lists several actions that the Trump Administration has taken to respond to the Opioid Crisis, including the July 2017 law enforcement action against AlphaBay.

The declaration has been criticized for not requesting any funds to respond to the Crisis. The "nationwide public health emergency" declaration is also distinct from a promised "national emergency declaration", which would have freed up money from the Disaster Relief Fund to be spent on the Crisis. 14 Senate Democrats have introduced a bill that would authorize $45 billion to address the Opioid Crisis. The Obama Administration called on Congress last year to pass just over $1 billion in funding for opioid treatment programs nationwide. This funding was included in the 21st Century Cures Act.

The Department of Justice has arrested and charged the founder and majority owner of Insys Therapeutics Inc., John Kapoor, along with other executives from his company. Kapoor is accused with leading a nationwide conspiracy to bribe doctors and illegally distribute the company's fentanyl spray, intended for cancer patients, so that it could be prescribed for non-cancer patients. Kapoor stepped down as CEO of Insys in January. Acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb said, "Mr. Kapoor and his company stand accused of bribing doctors to overprescribe a potent opioid and committing fraud on insurance companies solely for profit. Today's arrest and charges reflect our ongoing efforts to attack the opioid crisis from all angles. We must hold the industry and its leadership accountable - just as we would the cartels or a street-level drug dealer." Six former Insys executives and managers were charged in December.

[takyon: a262 would like you to know that Insys Therapeutics donated $500,000 to help defeat Arizona's 2016 ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational use of cannabis.]

The More Opioids Doctors Prescribe, the More Money They Make 95 comments

CNN Exclusive: The more opioids doctors prescribe, the more money they make (archive)

The data:

The CNN/Harvard analysis looked at 2014 and 2015, during which time more than 811,000 doctors wrote prescriptions to Medicare patients. Of those, nearly half wrote at least one prescription for opioids.

Fifty-four percent of those doctors -- more than 200,000 physicians -- received a payment from pharmaceutical companies that make opioids.

Among doctors in the top 25th percentile of opioid prescribers by volume, 72% received payments. Among those in the top fifth percentile, 84% received payments. Among the very biggest prescribers -- those in the top 10th of 1% -- 95% received payments.

On average, doctors whose opioid prescription volume ranked among the top 5% nationally received twice as much money from the opioid manufacturers, compared with doctors whose prescription volume was in the median. Doctors in the top 1% of opioid prescribers received on average four times as much money as the typical doctor. Doctors in the top 10th of 1%, on average, received nine times more money than the typical doctor. [...]

Some studies have looked at whether the amount of money a doctor receives makes a difference. Studies by researchers at Yale University, the George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health and Harvard Medical School have all found that the more money physicians are paid by pharmaceutical companies, the more likely they are to prescribe certain drugs.

The story:

Angela Cantone says she wishes she had known that opioid manufacturers were paying her doctor hundreds of thousands of dollars; it might have prompted her to question his judgment.

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:11PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:11PM (#794680)

    Why do I get the sense there is no blame being placed on the healthcare providers?

    • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Thursday January 31 2019, @10:06PM

      by Nerdfest (80) on Thursday January 31 2019, @10:06PM (#794729)

      It's kind of a "reverse Weinstein".

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @03:12PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @03:12PM (#795041)

      Because the healthcare providers are not at fault for the opioid crisis, maybe?????

      Maybe if you were the one in genuine chronic or extreme pain you'd be grateful for a little relief from it. Maybe providers don't push opiates unless someone is in chronic or extreme pain or is immediately expected to be (you don't wait for an "Ow" for someone who just had open heart surgery, for example).

      Maybe opioids require at least 30 days exposure before actual physical dependence kicks in? And maybe patients are told things like, "Your doctor is prescribing this for your pain. It is important to take it exactly as directed. Use of opioids as they are prescribed does not generally cause addiction, however, use of them off prescription does."

      Fentanyl is not the devil. Uncontrolled use of it is. And medicine actively continues to build knowledge to use it more wisely (take, for example, the rise of statewide opioid prescription databases - now if we could go national with that).

      That said, one thing that I can think of that might help the crisis out a little is if pharmacies and healthcare providers accepted surpluses back and held patients prescribed them accountable.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @04:45PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @04:45PM (#795067)

        If doctors just blindly believe whatever a pharmaceutical rep tells them then they should be replaced by algorithms. There is really no other point to a doctor.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:15PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:15PM (#794681)

    Get lap dance from an Oriental stripper, and get paid for it.

    Fuck the opioid epidemic, the doc is IN.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:16PM (12 children)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:16PM (#794683)

    My family doctor gets invited to "seminars" in sunny resort islands quite regularly, in exchange for prescribing this or that shitty useless cold medicines, antidepressants or blood pressure pills. We've known each other for 40 years, and he knows I'll only buy generic versions of whatever he prescribes on principles. So he admits it to me. He's a real pusher - and the more he pushes, the sunnier the vacations (sorry, seminars...)

    Here, It only makes the news because it's Fentanyl-related. But it's a well know fact that doctors are mostly all bribed by medical visitor, be it a little bit or all the way like mine. It happens all the time, everybody knows it, and nobody bats an eyelid. So cry me a river...

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by chromas on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:28PM

    by chromas (34) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:28PM (#794688) Journal

    Poor doc [youtube.com]

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:42PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:42PM (#794697) Homepage Journal

    No, I was thinking of Mitch Kapor.

    Nothing to see here, move on.

    In other news, I've had Dyslexia since third grade; that led me to think it was the Doc who gave the lap dance.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:48PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @08:48PM (#794700)

    The corruption has gotten flat out trashy!

    • (Score: 1) by evilcam on Friday February 01 2019, @02:32AM (3 children)

      by evilcam (3239) Subscriber Badge on Friday February 01 2019, @02:32AM (#794845)

      My initial thought was that the Sales Director was the one doing the dancing.
      "Make it rain, gurl, make it rain"

      • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday February 01 2019, @01:30PM (2 children)

        by PiMuNu (3823) on Friday February 01 2019, @01:30PM (#795012)

        I think that she was.

        FTFA:

        > [Sales directory] Lee, a former stripper, had no experience in the pharmaceutical industry before working at Insys, prosecutors noted... Brown recalled ... “She [Lee] was sitting on his lap, kind of bouncing around, and he had his hands all over her chest.’’

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @08:06PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @08:06PM (#795163)

          If I knew then what I know now I would have gone to med school!

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @01:56PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @01:56PM (#795385)

            It's not as fun as it sounds when your're working with a cadaver.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @09:45PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @09:45PM (#794719)

    And is Soylent now set to follow?
    A propaganda piece this blatant is an insult to rationality, whatever the cause. When author does not respect readers, he/she/it is sure to respect facts even less.

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @10:35PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @10:35PM (#794752)

      How can this possibly classify as propaganda??

      Can you trolls maybe just NOT? Some of us enjoy real discussion.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @11:54PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @11:54PM (#794799)

        If that's not enough to you, then please eat up all the "not-propaganda" you wish. But have the decency not to feed your slop to others.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @04:41AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @04:41AM (#794873)

          You didn't even answer the question. How is this propaganda? Medical rep gives lap dance to sell drugs, ooooh the brainwashing!

    • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday January 31 2019, @10:36PM

      by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday January 31 2019, @10:36PM (#794753) Homepage Journal

      Kapoor was convicted in 2017 for reasons that also have to do with him being a drug pusher.

      The testimony has already been given; criminal procedures can have Depositions too.

      Please to be specific as to what about TFS or TFA made them Propaganda.

      --
      Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @11:27PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @11:27PM (#794784)

      t. doctor

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @09:52PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @09:52PM (#794723)

    Oddly enough I was just watching a relevant documentary about why doctors do these sorts of things.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfXs0m32A8E [youtube.com]

  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday January 31 2019, @10:12PM (1 child)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Thursday January 31 2019, @10:12PM (#794733) Journal

    was the lap dance any good?

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday January 31 2019, @10:40PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday January 31 2019, @10:40PM (#794756) Homepage Journal

    "Controlled Substance".

    While a step in the right direction that the US no longer permits refills of controlled substances but requires a new dead-tree script every single time, that Canada's prescriptions are numbered enabled them to fight Doctor Shopping.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @11:01PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @11:01PM (#794768)

    I don't think this is a case of a sales director providing a lap dance. I think this is Insys recruiting their sales directors from a very specific subset of the population with great "persuasive" skills. Just a case of knowing your audience, I guess.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @07:12PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @07:12PM (#795128)

    I'm generally not a fan of ink. Certainly not for myself, and I don't even like to see it on other... but the first thought that came into my head is that this scene is just begging to be tattoo flash.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @08:09PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 01 2019, @08:09PM (#795164)

      ?? A doctor getting a lap dance? Who would want that tattooed on themselves?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @01:59PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @01:59PM (#795387)

        Like flash of a panther ripping your skin open is any classier.
        Tats are 99% trashy.

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