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.
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?