kapoor Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor convicted in US opioid case 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. purdue OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma pleads guilty, admits to role in deadly opioid epidemic Company admits it impeded efforts to combat the deadly crisis Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty Tuesday to three criminal charges, formally admitting its role in an opioid epidemic that has contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths over the past two decades. In a virtual hearing with a federal judge in Newark, N.J., the OxyContin maker admitted impeding the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's efforts to combat the addiction crisis. Purdue also acknowledged that it had not maintained an effective program to prevent prescription drugs from being diverted to the black market, even though it had told the DEA it did have such a program, and that it provided misleading information to the agency as a way to boost company manufacturing quotas. It also admitted paying doctors through a speakers program to induce them to write more prescriptions for its painkillers. The guilty pleas were entered by Purdue board chairperson Steve Miller on behalf of the company. They were part of a criminal and civil settlement announced last month between the Stamford, Conn.-based company and the U.S. Justice Department.

2020 propublica McKinsey Never Told the FDA It Was Working for Opioid Makers While Also Working for the Agency The consulting giant was helping Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson fend off FDA regulations even as it helped shape FDA drug policy.