Insys Therapeutics

[sglowrider]

Insys Executives Are Sentenced to Prison Time, Putting Opioid Makers On Notice

U.S. pharmaceutical executives have been put on notice that they could be held criminally liable for fueling America’s epidemic of opioid addiction, after the founder of the drugmaker Insys was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for masterminding a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe a dangerous painkiller.

Alec Burlakoff, Insys’s former head of sales, received a 26-month sentence for the same charges. Michael Babich, the former chief executive, has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years.

The prison terms have been handed down as other opioid makers and distributors are being criminally investigated and prosecutors are aiming to hold executives accountable in a pharma industry that has frequently dismissed fines as a cost of doing business.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

Insys Executives Are Sentenced to Prison Time, Putting Opioid Makers On Notice

U.S. pharmaceutical executives have been put on notice that they could be held criminally liable for fueling America’s epidemic of opioid addiction, after the founder of the drugmaker Insys was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for masterminding a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe a dangerous painkiller.

Alec Burlakoff, Insys’s former head of sales, received a 26-month sentence for the same charges. Michael Babich, the former chief executive, has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years.

The prison terms have been handed down as other opioid makers and distributors are being criminally investigated and prosecutors are aiming to hold executives accountable in a pharma industry that has frequently dismissed fines as a cost of doing business.

Firing squads would have been better, but it's a start.

 

[sglowrider]

Firing squads would have been better, but it's a start.

Pharma sales is really pretty corrupt, even here with dubious commission structures. There was a case of a good looking sales guy who got promoted and the client/doctor stopped buying from the company until he 'serviced' that male doctor again.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

Pharma sales is really pretty corrupt, even here with dubious commission structures. There was a case of a good looking sales guy who got promoted and the client/doctor stopped buying from the company until he 'serviced' that male doctor again.

I used to plan private lunch parties for pharma reps looking to impress doctors. I was amazed at how much money they'd throw around. They'd have a $130/person budget, max $75/bottle of wine (at lunch!!!), etc. They'd order for fifteen guests, but then say, "Probably only six or seven will actually show up." But they paid for all of them, anyway.

Except for the wine. Per state law, we could only charge them for what was actually used. Sometimes, if there were a lot left over, they'd buy up the extras and give them to the doctors to take home.

I always figured the drug business had to be a hell of a racket if they had that kind of budget for a simple lunch.

 

[IUXC68]

I used to plan private lunch parties for pharma reps looking to impress doctors. I was amazed at how much money they'd throw around. They'd have a $130/person budget, max $75/bottle of wine (at lunch!!!), etc. They'd order for fifteen guests, but then say, "Probably only six or seven will actually show up." But they paid for all of them, anyway.

Except for the wine. Per state law, we could only charge them for what was actually used. Sometimes, if there were a lot left over, they'd buy up the extras and give them tot he doctors to take home.

I always figured the drug business had to be a hell of a racket if they had that kind of budget for a simple lunch.

Then you went to law school, right?

 

[sglowrider]

I used to plan private lunch parties for pharma reps looking to impress doctors. I was amazed at how much money they'd throw around. They'd have a $130/person budget, max $75/bottle of wine (at lunch!!!), etc. They'd order for fifteen guests, but then say, "Probably only six or seven will actually show up." But they paid for all of them, anyway.

Except for the wine. Per state law, we could only charge them for what was actually used. Sometimes, if there were a lot left over, they'd buy up the extras and give them tot he doctors to take home.

I always figured the drug business had to be a hell of a racket if they had that kind of budget for a simple lunch.

Its worse here -- the business model for the physicians is based on prescription. Fortunately, opioids are highly controlled here. There is a menu of consulting charges controlled by the local Medical Association -- though some specialist have been able to get around it as in the case of a specialist's who charged the Sultan of Brunei's sister's treatment for like $20million over a five months period!! (And she died!)

We are heading towards universal healthcare in the midterm here due to the ageing population and chronic diseases. So things may change.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

Then you went to law school, right?

Yeah, that was dumb.

 

[IUXC68]

Yeah, that was dumb.

I remember our exchanges back then. I'm sorry that things didn't go as you had planned.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

I remember our exchanges back then. I'm sorry that things didn't go as you had planned.

Well, life has a way of throwing you curve balls. But even if it hadn't, if I had to do it all over again, I'd probably not go. My old boss offered me a stake in the business, and if I had taken it, I'd either own my own joint now, or I'd be raking in big cash as a minority partner in his other restaurant that is basically printing money right now.

Oh well. Live and learn.

 

[UncleMark]

Well, life has a way of throwing you curve balls. But even if it hadn't, if I had to do it all over again, I'd probably not go. My old boss offered me a stake in the business, and if I had taken it, I'd either own my own join now, or I'd be raking in big cash as a minority partner in his other restaurant that is basically printing money right now.

Oh well. Live and learn.

If only, what if, coulda been. Then you die.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

If only, what if, coulda been. Then you die.

Ironically, he recently offered me the job again. The guy he sold the restaurant to wants out, and he toyed with buying it back and bringing me back to run the business. I was sorely tempted.

 

[anon_mlxxvlbug9dpa]

Pharma sales is really pretty corrupt, even here with dubious commission structures. There was a case of a good looking sales guy who got promoted and the client/doctor stopped buying from the company until he 'serviced' that male doctor again.

And that’s pharma’s fault?