Opioid Crisis driven by shady Pharma Co's
Many say the opioid crisis that has killed more than 183,000 Americans since 1999 is driven by crooked pharmaceutical executives who have done just about everything, legal or otherwise, to convince the public that opioid painkillers are safe. Even President Donald Trump, who recently declared the epidemic a public health emergency, said companies that make the potent and highly addictive painkillers are responsible for the surge in deaths.
Fentanyl is one of the most dangerous opioids on the market, 50 times more potent than heroin. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that overdoses on this synthetic opioid have increased 540 percent in the past three years, and many say the drug is responsible for the current epidemic. Insys Therapeutics, one of the companies that produce a form of fentanyl, is now mired in an ugly legal battle after multiple executives—including its founder, John Kapoor—were arrested on conspiracy charges in late October. Attorneys general in New Jersey, Arizona, Oregon, Illinois and Massachusetts have filed lawsuits claiming the company plotted to illegally boost sales of its drugs. In all of the lawsuits, Insys is charged with lying to insurance companies, fabricating information about patients and providing incentives to physicians to prescribe the drug.
Insys Therapeutics produces Subsys, a powerful fentanyl-based liquid that earned approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012 specifically for use by cancer patients with pain that doesn’t respond to other painkillers—what’s known as “breakthrough cancer pain.” Subsys is a fast-acting spray used under the tongue; the mucous membranes beneath the tongue have an abundance of capillaries, so the medication is absorbed directly into the bloodstream without needing to go through your digestive system. This delivery method is highly effective, but it means that overdosing on Subsys is far too easy—and possibly just a few accidental sprays away.
Ongoing federal investigations suggest Insys ran an elaborate scheme to push the drug on non-cancer patients—what’s called “off-label use”—despite the fact that the company has not submitted clinical data to prove Subsys is safe and effective to manage pain not related to cancer. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Massachusetts charged Kapoor with “leading a nationwide conspiracy to profit by using bribes and fraud to cause the illegal distribution of a fentanyl spray.” The charges include racketeering, mail and wire fraud, and violation of a federal law passed in 2014 (known as the Anti-Kickback Statute) that prevents drug companies from providing large incentives to physicians for prescribing their drugs. Kapoor resigned from the company’s board of directors in late October, but said in a statement, “I am confident that I have committed no crimes and believe I will be fully vindicated.” (He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Boston on November 16.)
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http://www.newsweek.com/opioid-crisis-driven-shady-drug-company-tactics-716856
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