Insys Therapeutic Execs Sentenced: Will Doctors Be Next?

In February of 2019, we interviewed Palm Beach Post reporters Pat Beall and John Pacenti, about the trial of former executives from opioid manufacturer Insys Therapeutics. They’d been accused of racketeering, bribing doctors to prescribe their high-powered opioid fentanyl spray, Subsys, to patients who didn’t need it.

A year later, the Insys executives have finally received sentences of 1 to 5 ½ years in prison. This is the first time big pharma execs have been convicted and sent to prison for racketeering. It’s arguable whether this sentence achieves justice for the 900-plus lives lost to opioid addiction that began with Subsys prescriptions. But, it does send a clear message to the rest of the pharmaceutical industry.

To share their insight into the Insys sentencing, Palm Beach Post reporters, John Pacenti and Pat Beall, return to the podcast. Together, we break-down what this case means for the rest of the pharmaceutical industry and the questions that remain.