(1) Pharma Billionaire arrested on Charges of Bribing Doctors to Prescribe Opioid Painkillers(2) Pharma company bribed Doctors, prosecuted like "cartels or a street-level drug dealer"(3) Owner of Pharmaceutical Company Insys Arrested and Charged with Racketeering - DOJ(4) Arrest may portend Charges against Cmpanies far larger than Insys, over Opioid epidemic(5) Pharma companies fuelling Opioid epidemic will be pursued like Street Dealers - Jeff Sessions(1) Pharma Billionaire arrested on Charges of Bribing Doctors to Prescribe Opioid Painkillershttp://fortune.com/2017/10/26/john-kapoor-insys-therapeutics-arrested-net-worth/The same day President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, by Lucinda ShenOctober 26, 2017The same day President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency, the federal government said it arrested a wealthy pharmaceutical company executive on charges of bribing doctors to needlessly prescribe his firm’s opioid painkiller.The Department of Justice arrested Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor, 74, in Phoenix, it said Thursday. Kapoor was charged with using bribes and fraud to prop up sales of a pain medication called Subsys, a fentanyl spray typically used to treat cancer patients suffering excruciating pain.University at Buffalo/Reuters University at Buffalo/Reuters Kapoor’s arrest comes nearly a year after former Insys CEO Michael Babich and five other onetime executives were arrested as part of an alleged "nationwide conspiracy."The Justice Department claims that Kapoor and other Insys executives offered bribes in the form of kickbacks to doctors who wrote "large numbers of prescriptions" for patients, many of whom did not have cancer. The Department also alleged that the executives defrauded insurers by forming a "reimbursement unit" dedicated to obtaining prior authorization from insurers who were reluctant to pay for the drug."These Insys executives allegedly fueled the opioid epidemic by paying doctors to needlessly prescribe an extremely dangerous and addictive form of fentanyl," Phillip Coyne, special agent in charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a press release."The allegations of selling a highly addictive opioid cancer pain drug to patients who did not have cancer, make them no better than street-level drug dealer," added Harold Shaw, a Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent.Insys did not immediately return Fortune’s request for comment.Insys’ stock closed down nearly 23% following the news of Kapoor’s arrest, pushing the company’s valuation down to $417 million. It was a stunning retreat, considering the company was valued at over $19 billion as recently as 2015, when concerns about the company’s practices were first raised. (Insys is now also developing its own drug to reverse opioid overdoses.)Insys’ falloff has cost Kapoor a hefty portion of his own net worth, which is made up in part of company stock. At Insys’ peak, Kapoor’s current stake in the company was worth over $1.9 billion. By Thursday’s close, it was down to $246.7 million. (Kapoor still holds a $1 billion stake in Akorn Pharmaceuticals, a generic drug maker where he also serves as board chairman. Akorn’s stock was down about 1% at Thursday’s close.)Kapoor is set to make a court appearance in Phoenix at a later date.(2) Pharma company bribed Doctors, prosecuted like "cartels or a street-level drug dealer"http://time.com/5000169/john-kapoor-insys-fentanyl-bribery/A Billionaire Bribed Doctors to Overprescribe Powerful Opioids 'Solely for Profit,' Prosecutors SayBy Anita Snow and Paul Davenport / APOctober 27, 2017(PHOENIX) — U.S. prosecutors leveled charges Thursday against the billionaire founder of an opioid medication maker that has faced increasing scrutiny from authorities across the country over allegations of pushing prescriptions of powerful painkillers amid a drug epidemic that is claiming thousands of lives each year.The fraud and racketeering case against Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor came the same day President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency.The case naming Kapoor follows indictments against the company’s former CEO and other executives and managers on allegations that they provided kickbacks to doctors to prescribe a potent opioid called Subsys.In the new indictment, Kapoor, 74, of Phoenix, and the other defendants are accused of offering bribes to doctors to write large numbers of prescriptions for the fentanyl-based pain medication that is meant only for cancer patients with severe pain. Most of the people who received prescriptions did not have cancer.It also alleges that they conspired to mislead and defraud insurance providers who were reluctant to approve payment for the drug when it was prescribed for patients without cancer.U.S. prosecutors in Boston brought the case as they vowed to go after problem opioid makers similar to how they target "cartels or a street-level drug dealer.""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," said Acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb in Boston.A judge set bail at $1 million for Kapoor, saying he must wear electronic monitoring and surrender his passports. Kapoor, who was arrested earlier Thursday, entered court in basketball shorts, tennis shoes and a T-shirt, his long, gray hair disheveled."He is not guilty of these charges, he intends to fight it vigorously," defense attorney Brian T. Kelly said outside court. Kelly is a high-profile Boston lawyer and former federal prosecutor who successfully tried imprisoned gangster James "Whitey" Bugler.Kapoor came to the U.S. from India to get his Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Buffalo, where the pharmacy school is named for him and his wife to honor their longtime philanthropy.Kapoor, whose worth Forbes estimated at $1.75 billion, also founded a company that operates seven restaurants including the Japanese eatery Roka Aker in Scottsdale.In Massachusetts, former Insys CEO Michael L. Babich and five other former executives and managers are set to go to trial in October 2018 and have pleaded not guilty. The latest indictment brings new charges against Babich and others.Several former Insys employees and health care providers have pleaded guilty to felony charges around the country, including in Alabama and Connecticut. A Rhode Island doctor pleaded guilty Wednesday to accepting kickbacks in return for prescribing the highly addictive fentanyl spray.A spokesman for Arizona-based Insys said this week that the company is under new management and has replaced nearly all its original sales staff. It says it takes responsibility for the actions of its former employees."We have taken necessary and appropriate steps to prevent past mistakes from happening in the future, and are committed to conducting business according to high ethical standards and the interests of patients," the company said in a statement Wednesday. "We also continue to work with relevant authorities to resolve issues related to the misdeeds of former employees."Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said evidence from a congressional probe she launched this year suggested that Insys had "gotten away with fines that amounted to a slap on the wrist for actions that helped fuel a nationwide epidemic that’s claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives."Kapoor was named the drugmaker’s president and CEO in November 2015 after Babich resigned without explanation.Federal authorities apparently have been investigating the company for some time. In late 2013, Insys said it received a subpoena from the Department of Health and Human Services asking for documents tied to the commercialization of Subsys. Nearly a year later, it received a subpoena from U.S. prosecutors in Boston for documents connected with sales and marketing practices for the drug.In addition to the criminal charges, states have been suing Insys over its marketing practices.Meanwhile, the company has been active in politics, donating $500,000 last year to an Arizona campaign to defeat a ballot measure to legalize marijuana.The company’s stock price has taken a big tumble in recent months amid the legal issues. Insys stock plunged more than 20 percent Thursday.(3) Owner of Pharmaceutical Company Insys Arrested and Charged with Racketeering - DOJhttps://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/founder-and-owner-pharmaceutical-company-insys-arrested-and-charged-racketeeringU.S. Attorneys » District of Massachusetts » NewsDepartment of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of MassachusettsFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEThursday, October 26, 2017Defendant and other executives allegedly bribed doctors and pharmacists to prescribe fentanyl spray meant for breakthrough cancer painBOSTON – The founder and majority owner of Insys Therapeutics Inc., was arrested today and charged with leading a nationwide conspiracy to profit by using bribes and fraud to cause the illegal distribution of a Fentanyl spray intended for cancer patients experiencing breakthrough pain.John N. Kapoor, 74, of Phoenix, Ariz., a current member of the Board of Directors of Insys, was arrested this morning in Arizona and charged with RICO conspiracy, as well as other felonies, including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Law. Kapoor, the former Executive Chairman of the Board and CEO of Insys, will appear in federal court in Phoenix today.  He will appear in U.S. District Court in Boston at a later date.The superseding indictment, unsealed today in Boston, also includes additional allegations against several former Insys executives and managers who were initially indicted in December 2016.The superseding indictment charges that Kapoor; Michael L. Babich, 40, of Scottsdale, Ariz., former CEO and President of the company; Alec Burlakoff, 42, of Charlotte, N.C., former Vice President of Sales; Richard M. Simon, 46, of Seal Beach, Calif., former National Director of Sales; former Regional Sales Directors Sunrise Lee, 36, of Bryant City, Mich., and Joseph A. Rowan, 43, of Panama City, Fla.; and former Vice President of Managed Markets, Michael J. Gurry, 53, of Scottsdale, Ariz., conspired to bribe practitioners in various states, many of whom operated pain clinics, in order to get them to prescribe a fentanyl-based pain medication.  The medication, called "Subsys," is a powerful narcotic intended to treat cancer patients suffering intense breakthrough pain.  In exchange for bribes and kickbacks, the practitioners wrote large numbers of prescriptions for the patients, most of whom were not diagnosed with cancer.The indictment also alleges that Kapoor and the six former executives conspired to mislead and defraud health insurance providers who were reluctant to approve payment for the drug when it was prescribed for non-cancer patients.  They achieved this goal by setting up the "reimbursement unit," which was dedicated to obtaining prior authorization directly from insurers and pharmacy benefit managers."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," said Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb. "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.""As alleged, these executives created a corporate culture at Insys that utilized deception and bribery as an acceptable business practice, deceiving patients, and conspiring with doctors and insurers," said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division. "The allegations of selling a highly addictive opioid cancer pain drug to patients who did not have cancer, make them no better than street-level drug dealers. Today's charges mark an important step in holding pharmaceutical executives responsible for their part in the opioid crisis.   The FBI will vigorously investigate corrupt organizations with business practices that promote fraud with a total disregard for patient safety.""These Insys executives allegedly fueled the opioid epidemic by paying doctors to needlessly prescribe an extremely dangerous and addictive form of fentanyl," said Phillip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  "Corporate executives intent on illegally driving up profits need to be aware they are now squarely in the sights of law enforcement.""As alleged, Insys executives improperly influenced health care providers to prescribe a powerful opioid for patients who did not need it, and without complying with FDA requirements, thus putting patients at risk and contributing to the current opioid crisis," said Mark A. McCormack, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations’ Metro Washington Field Office. "Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to pursue and bring to justice those who threaten the public health.""Pharmaceutical companies whose products include controlled medications that can lead to addiction and overdose have a special obligation to operate in a trustworthy, transparent manner, because their customers’ health and safety and, indeed, very lives depend on it," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson.  "DEA pledges to work with our law enforcement and regulatory partners nationwide to ensure that rules and regulations under the Controlled Substances Act are followed.""Today’s arrest is the result of a joint effort to identify, investigate and prosecute individuals who engage in fraudulent activity and endanger patient health," stated Special Agent in Charge Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Northeast Field Office. "DCIS will continue to work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, and our law enforcement partners, to protect U.S. military members, retirees and their dependents and the integrity of TRICARE, the Defense Department’s healthcare system.""As alleged, John Kapoor and other top executives committed fraud, placing profit before patient safety, to sell a highly potent and addictive opioid.  EBSA will take every opportunity to work collaboratively with our law enforcement partners in these important investigations to protect participants in private sector health plans and contribute in fighting the opioid epidemic," said Susan A. Hensley, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Boston Regional Office."Once again, the United States Postal Inspection Service is fully committed to protecting our nation’s mail system from criminal misuse," said Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. "We are proud to work alongside our law enforcement partners to dismantle high level prescription drug practices which directly contribute to the opioid abuse epidemic. This investigation highlights our commitment to defending our mail system from illegal misuse and ensuring public trust in the mail.""We are gratified to have contributed to this investigation and applaud the exceptional work of this investigative team for both protecting patient safety and program costs," said Eileen Neff, Special Agent in Charge  of the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Field Office. "Along with our law enforcement partners, the USPSOIG will continue to aggressively investigate those who engage in fraudulent activities intended to defraud federal benefit programs and the Postal Service.""The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General will continue to aggressively investigate those that attempt to fraudulently impact programs designed to benefit our veterans and their families," said Donna L. Neves, Special Agent in Charge of the VA OIG Northeast Field Office.The charges of conspiracy to commit RICO and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud each provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the amount of pecuniary gain or loss.  The charges of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Law provide for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.The investigation was conducted by a team that included the FBI; HHS-OIG; FDA Office of Criminal Investigations; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration; the Office of Personnel Management; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General; and the Department of Veterans Affairs.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office would like to acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Offices around the country engaged in parallel investigations, including the District of Connecticut, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern District of Alabama, Southern District of New York, District of Rhode Island, and the District of New Hampshire.  The efforts of the Central District of California and the Justice Department’s Civil Fraud Section of the Department of Justice are also greatly appreciated.Assistant U.S. Attorneys K. Nathaniel Yeager, Chief of Weinreb’s Health Care Fraud Unit, and Susan M. Poswistilo, of Weinreb’s Civil Division, are prosecuting the case.The details contained in the charging documents are allegations.  The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.(4) Arrest may portend Charges against Companies far larger than Insys, over Opioid epidemichttp://www.livemint.com/Companies/tTtDZ79kt1qIJRHYTOp0oI/Opioid-billionaire-John-Kapoors-indictment-opens-new-window.htmlOpioid billionaire John Kapoor’s indictment opens new window on epidemic, by Cynthia Koons, Jef FeeleyInsys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor became the highest-ranking pharma executive to be accused of an opioid-related crimeNew York/Wilmington, Delaware: More than a decade after opioid painkillers first exploded across the US, John Kapoor found an aggressive way to sell even more, according to prosecutors: He began bribing doctors to prescribe them.Speakers’ fees, dinners, entertainment, cash—federal charges unsealed on Thursday claim Kapoor’s striving company, Insys Therapeutics Inc., employed all of that and more to spur prescriptions of a highly addictive fentanyl-based drug intended only for cancer patients.As President Donald Trump declared at a White House event that opioid abuse represents a public health emergency, authorities arrested Kapoor in Arizona and painted a stark portrait of how Insys allegedly worked hand in glove with doctors to expand the market for the powerful agents."Selling a highly addictive opioid-cancer pain drug to patients who did not have cancer makes them no better than street-level drug dealers," Harold Shaw, the top FBI agent in Boston, said of Kapoor and other Insys executives charged earlier in the case.The story of the 74-year-old billionaire and the company he founded traces the arc of a crisis that claims 175 lives each day. What began with the over-prescription of painkillers in the late 1990s soon became a race by manufacturers to dispense more and more pills.Overdose risksCharged with racketeering conspiracy and other felonies, Kapoor became the highest-ranking pharma executive to be accused of an opioid-related crime, and his arrest may portend charges against companies far larger than Insys, which has a modest $417 million market capitalization.In Connecticut, prosecutors have begun a criminal probe of Purdue Pharmaceutical Inc.’s marketing of OxyContin. Scores of states, cities and counties have sued companies including Purdue, Endo International Plc, and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals, alleging they triggered the opioid epidemic by minimizing the addiction and overdose risks of painkillers such as Percocet.But so far, no recent case has been so sweeping as the one against the executives including Kapoor, who made his initial court appearance on late Thursday in Phoenix. A US magistrate judge set bail at $1 million and ordered Kapoor to surrender his passport and submit to electronic monitoring. His lawyer, Brian Kelly, said Kapoor posted bail after the hearing.This week, a Rhode Island doctor admitted accepting kickbacks from Insys in exchange for writing prescriptions. Earlier this year, two doctors were sentenced to more than 20 years behind bars for accepting bribes from the company to sell fentanyl-based medications.The Kapoor indictment pinpoints the start of the alleged scheme.Oral sprayIt was early 2012, and Insys’s new oral spray of the opioid fentanyl wasn’t selling well. Because it was so addictive, the pain-relief drug was subject to a tightly controlled distribution system, and regulators demanded to be notified about suspicious orders by manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies. And the drug wasn’t cheap, so insurers set up barriers for patients seeking it.That was when Kapoor and others at Insys went to extremes to dramatically boost sales of the painkiller, prosecutors said. Doling out speaker fees, marketing payments and food and entertainment perks, they allegedly began bribing doctors to prescribe the drug, and then tricked insurers into paying for it.One Insys sales executive told subordinates that it didn’t matter whether doctors were entertaining, according to the indictment: "They do not need to be good speakers, they need to write a lot of" Subsys prescriptions, the official said, referring to the brand name of the painkiller.Over a two-year period starting in 2013, Chandler, Arizona-based Insys set aside more than $12.2 million for doctors’ speaking fees, prosecutors said.Friends, familyThe company also sought to encourage doctors to write more prescriptions by hiring their friends and family members to serve as "business liaisons’’ and "business-relation managers,’’ prosecutors said. These support-staff employees worked in the doctors’ offices but were paid by Insys in what the indictment called bribes and kickbacks.Insys even made a video featuring a sales rep dressed as a giant fentanyl spray bottle, rapping and dancing to a song that pushed the idea of getting doctors to prescribe higher doses, prosecutors said.Others previously charged include Michael Babich, Insys’s former CEO, Alec Burlakoff, the ex-vice president of sales, and Richard Simon, once the company’s national sales director. They all deny wrongdoing.Joe McGrath, an Insys spokesman, declined to comment on Kapoor’s indictment in Boston federal court. The company, which wasn’t charged, has reportedly been in settlement talks with the US Justice Department to resolve a probe into its Subsys marketing. The company’s shares fell more than 22% to $5.74 in Nasdaq trading.The first person in his family to attend college, Kapoor rose from modest means in India to become a wealthy health-care entrepreneur, after earning a doctorate in medicinal chemistry at the University of Buffalo in 1972, according to a work-history the school posted.He was a plant manager at Invenex Laboratories in New York and later became chief executive officer of LyphoMed, a hospital-products company. He sold LyphoMed to Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals and formed a venture capital firm that invested in health-care companies.In 2010, he merged privately held Insys with NeoPharm Inc. to get access to technology to develop pain drugs for cancer patients. Even though he has stepped down as Insys’s chairman and chief executive officer, he still holds more than 60% of its stock.Kapoor and Babich are also accused of misleading insurers about patients’ diagnoses and the types of pain they suffered that were covered by the Subsys prescriptions tied to the payment scheme, prosecutors said.The company’s agents allegedly told insurers that patients were receiving Subsys for "breakthrough pain’’ to secure coverage. They also misled insurers about what other pain drugs patients had tried before being proscribed Subsys, according to the indictment.Some lower-level Insys employees have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors, according to court papers. Elizabeth Gurrieri, a former manager who oversaw insurance reimbursements, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud in June. BloombergFirst Published: Fri, Oct 27 2017. 11 33 AM IST(5) Pharma companies fuelling Opioid epidemic will be pursued like Street Dealers - Jeff Sessionshttps://www.naturalnews.com/2017-10-28-the-tide-is-turning-big-pharma-billionaire-arrested-charged-with-conspiracy-bribery-of-doctors.htmlThe tide is turning: Big Pharma billionaire arrested, charged with conspiracy and bribery of doctors, by Mike AdamsSaturday, October 28, 2017 	(Natural News) I almost never thought I’d see the day when a Big Pharma founder and owner was finally arrested for running a criminal drug cartel, but that day has arrived."Federal authorities arrested the billionaire founder and owner of Insys Therapeutics Thursday on charges of bribing doctors and pain clinics into prescribing the company’s fentanyl product to their patients," reports the Daily Caller News Foundation, one of the best sources of real journalism in America today.Addictive drugs that include opioids, we now know, are claiming over 64,000 lives a year in the United States alone. From the DCNF:The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged John Kapoor, 74, and seven other current and former executives at the pharmaceutical company with racketeering for a leading a national conspiracy through bribery and fraud to coerce the illegal distribution of the company’s fentanyl spray, which is intended for use as a pain killer by cancer patients. The company’s stock prices fell more than 20 percent following the arrests, according to the New York Post.Kapoor stepped down as the company’s CEO in January amid ongoing federal probes into their Subsys product, a pain-relieving spray that contains fentanyl, a highly-addictive synthetic opioid. Fentanyl is more than 50 times stronger than morphine, and ingesting just two milligrams is enough to cause an adult to fatally overdose.The series of arrests came just hours after President Donald Trump officially declared the country’s opioid epidemic a national emergency. Drug overdoses led to 64,070 deaths in 2016, which is more than the amount of American lives lost in the entire Vietnam War.As the opioid crisis has developed, more and more states have begun holding doctors and opioid manufacturers accountable for over-prescribing and over-producing the highly-addictive painkillers."We will be bringing some major lawsuits against people and companies that are hurting our people," Trump said Thursday. He also spoke about a program similar to Nancy Reagan’s "Just Say No" initiative."More than 20,000 Americans died of synthetic opioid overdoses last year, and millions are addicted to opioids. And yet some medical professionals would rather take advantage of the addicts than try to help them," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. "This Justice Department will not tolerate this.  We will hold accountable anyone – from street dealers to corporate executives — who illegally contributes to this nationwide epidemic.  And under the leadership of President Trump, we are fully committed to defeating this threat to the American people.President Trump is bringing the war to Big Pharma’s doorstepUnder President Trump, who continues to fight to end the drug cartels and health care monopolies that are destroying this nation, we may see more and more drug companies finally facing the legal scrutiny they deserve for engaging in the mass medical murder of Americans with dangerous, deadly drugs.And then there’s the question of vaccines, the autism cover-up and the criminal racket run by the CDC, Big Pharma and the lying mainstream media. When that medical fraud and corruption scandal blows sky-high, we may see dozens of pharmaceutical officials going to prison.Stay informed at Natural News.-- Peter Myerswebsite: http://mailstar.net/index.html