State of Illinois sues pharma giant that paid off doctors for product promotion

Friday, September 2, 2016
By Paul Martin

by: J. D. Heyes
NaturalNews.com
Friday, September 02, 2016

The attorney general for the state of Illinois has filed suit against a controversial pharmaceutical firm for allegedly using deceptive marketing practices that included paying an indicted physician thousands for phony speaking events in order to help sell its signature pain drug.

As reported by Pro Publica, the firm, Insys Therapeutics, was one of more than 400 Big Pharma companies that have made payments to such doctors, but its shenanigans have received much more attention.

To be sure, it isn’t unusual for pharmaceutical companies to pay doctors with histories of illicit behavior for consulting with them or speaking about their products. A ProPublica study recently completed found that more than 2,300 physicians with discipline records in five states have received payments from pharmaceutical and medical device firms since 2013.

But, according to investigations in a number of states, the business model Insys relied upon saw huge payments going to doctors who prescribed their drugs most frequently, even if they had histories of disciplinary actions or outright criminality. The payments were largely related to a fentanyl-based drug, Subsys, approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for patients suffering from cancer-related pain that is resistant to other opioids.

‘Few, if any, cancer patients’

The Rest…HERE

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