Billionaire indicted for alleged role in opioid kickback scheme
Channel: Flash city
Date: 2017-10-26

John Kapoor, billionaire founder of opioid spray manufacturer Insys Therapeutics, was arrested in Phoenix on Thursday morning and charged with RICO conspiracy, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback law. FORBES reached out to Insys on Thursday morning but has not heard back yet. An attorney for Kapoor told CBS News, that Kapoor "is innocent of these charges and intends to fight the charges vigorously."

“In the midst of a nationwide opioid epidemic that has reached crisis proportions, Mr. Kapoor and his company stand accused of bribing doctors to overprescribe a potent opioid and committing fraud on insurance companies solely for profit,” acting U.S. attorney William D. Weinreb said in statement. “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.”

This arrest and charges were announced just as reports surfaced that President Trump is going to declare the country's opioid crisis a public health emergency later today. More directly, the charges come out of a superseding indictment that was unsealed Thursday by the U.S. Attorney's office in Massachusetts that had arrested and charged six other former Insys executives in December 2016. At that time, the six arrested were former CEO Michael Babich as well as Alec Burlakoff, 42,the former Vice President of Sales; Richard M. Simon, 46, the former National Director of Sales; former Regional Sales Directors Sunrise Lee, 36,  and Joseph A. Rowan, 43; and former Vice President of Managed Markets, Michael J. Gurry, 53.
the founder of the pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics Inc. was arrested Thursday on charges of “leading a nationwide conspiracy” to profit from illegally distributing pain medication, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts announced.

John Kapoor is the founder and majority owner of Insys, serves on the board of directors, and up until Jan. 9, was the company’s CEO and executive chairman of the board. His arrest adds to the list of former Insys executives targeted by the Department of Justice; in December, six other former executives were arrested.

“In the midst of a nationwide opioid epidemic that has reached crisis proportions, Mr. Kapoor and his company stand accused of bribing doctors to overprescribe a potent opioid and committing fraud on insurance companies solely for profit,” acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb said in a statement.

Insys sells a drug called Subsys, a a pain-relieving dose of fentanyl that is sprayed beneath the tongue. It was supposed to be used only for cancer patients experiencing pain even though they were already taking other painkillers. But the indictment alleges that Kapoor and his colleagues bribed doctors to prescribe it to other patients, potentially contributing to the nation’s opioid crisis.