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.
Might this put a chill in other inappropriate incentives to expand off-label use of highly priced drugs, where safer, effective, and lower cost alternatives are available, and where risks and costs exceed patient benefits?