The founder of Insys Therapeutics John Kapoor has become the first pharmaceutical boss to be convicted in a case linked to the US opioid crisis.
A Boston jury found Kapoor and four colleagues conspired to bribe doctors to prescribe addictive painkillers, often to patients who didn’t need them. The former billionaire was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy for his role in a scheme which also misled insurers. Tens of thousands of deaths have been caused by opioid overdoses in the US.
Indian-born Kapoor founded drugmaker Insys Therapeutics in 1990 and built it into a multi-billion dollar company. The jury found Kapoor had also misled medical insurance companies about patients’ need for the painkillers in order to boost sales of the firm’s fentanyl spray, Subsys.
What are opioids?
Opioids are a group of drugs that range from codeine, to illegal drugs like heroin.
Prescription opioids are primarily used for pain relief.
They work by attaching to opioid receptors in your brain cells to release signals that block your perception of pain and boost your feelings of pleasure.
The strongest legal treatments are usually only available by prescription from a doctor and include:
- morphine
- tramadol
- fentanyl
- methadone
- diamorphine
- alfentanil
Opioids are generally used for moderate and severe pain relief. They are intended to be used for a limited period of time to treat pain that does not respond to standard painkillers like aspirin, ibuprofen and paracetamol. Examples of when the drugs are likely to be used include aiding with acute pain – such as after surgery – or for cancer patients or people at the end of life.
Stealing our money and making us sick
The truism health is the most precious thing one has is 90% correct. You only realize its true value after you lose it. But there is one even more important thing: FAMILY. For without my loved ones I would not see a point in living or, put differently, I would prefer to be sick and next to them than without them.
But when profits come into play, we are never cured of anything but only managed, as “recurrent buy” yield more profits than one big lump sum.
The profit margin of Big Pharma is the highest of any industry. Running into the 5000%-10000% price increase from base substances to final product, sold into the store to an old lady who cannot see her grandchildren properly without X drug (1).
Talking about the term drug, I find myself staring at the signs that say “Drugstore” and contemplating why it is not called a Pharmacy as Europeans call them?
Find out more on the subject<<
