US obtains first criminal conviction of a pharma CEO over opioid doctor kickbacks

The leadership of a pharmaceutical company is facing prison for the first time in US history, following the conviction of Insys Therapeutics’ billionaire founder and four senior executives on racketeering and kickback charges.

The decision by a federal jury in a Boston court also represents a milestone in the government’s battle against the opioid epidemic. Four of the five defendants, including Insys founder John Kapoor, were found guilty of illegal distribution of a controlled substance.

The executives were convicted of masterminding and executing a scheme in which the company paid doctors to prescribe its flagship product Subsys, a fentanyl sublingual spray, for a wide range of claimed pain conditions, although it …