The Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey (“NJ AG”) announced that it has reached a settlement with John N. Kapoor, the founder of Insys Therapeutics (“Insys”), to resolve allegations that Kapoor orchestrated bribes to doctors in New Jersey as part of a nationwide kickback scheme to boost sales of Insys’ opioid drug known as Subsys.  Following a three-month trial in 2019, Kapoor and four other Insys executives were criminally convicted of a scheme to funnel cash and other perks to doctors so they would prescribe Subsys.  Kapoor has appealed his conviction.

The NJ AG’s announcement resolves a civil lawsuit launched in 2017 that alleged violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and the False Claims Act.  According to the NJ AG, Kapoor arranged for Insys to bribe health care professionals to write Subsys prescriptions for purposes not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and at inappropriately high doses.  Insys allegedly disguised these bribes as payments for “sham” speaking and consulting work.  In addition, Kapoor allegedly directed the campaign to fraudulently market and boost sales of Subys, by, among other things, lying to insurance carriers about patients’ diagnoses and treatment histories in order to secure payment for unwarranted prescriptions.

Kapoor will pay New Jersey $5 million as part of the settlement.  The NJ AG says that money obtained from Kapoor as a result of the settlement will be used in part to fund the state’s efforts to combat the opioid epidemic.

Read the article here.