Pharmaceutical executives to be sentenced for criminal activities related to opioid crisis

This appeared in The Millennial Source

Eight months after being found guilty of a racketeering conspiracy, five top executives of Insys Therapeutics are set to receive their sentences. The defendants, which include former Insys CEO John Kapoor, were found to have bribed doctors to push the company’s painkiller, Subsys, on patients, even when the drug wasn’t needed.

The case is notable for being the first time a pharmaceutical CEO has been convicted of racketeering related to opioids, according to Bloomberg.

It could establish a precedent for prosecuting other pharmaceutical executives in the midst of what the United States government has deemed an opioid crisis in the country.

What did the executives do?

Insys Therapeutics is a billion-dollar specialty pharmaceutical company founded by Kapoor in 1990. Its main drug is Subsys, a fentanyl-based spray designed for pain relief.

Alongside Kapoor, Michael Gurry and Richard Simon, Sunrise Lee and Joseph Rowan were found to have paid doctors to promote Subsys at marketing events and to their patients, according to the BBC. Kapoor was accused of lying to insurance companies about…