• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

McCarter & English Logo

  • People
  • Services
  • Insights
  • Our Firm
    • Leadership Team
    • Social Justice
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • Pro Bono
    • Client Service Values
    • Alumni
  • Join Us
    • Lawyers
    • Summer Associates
    • Patent Professionals
    • Professional Staff
    • Job Openings
  • Locations
    • Boston
    • Philadelphia
    • East Brunswick
    • Indianapolis
    • Stamford
    • Hartford
    • Trenton
    • Miami
    • Washington, DC
    • New York
    • Wilmington
    • Newark
  • Share

Share

Browse Alphabetically:

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z
  • All
Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Litigation
Blockchain, Smart Contracts & Digital Currencies
Business Litigation
Cannabis
Coronavirus Resource Center
Corporate
Crisis Management
Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
Delaware Corporate, LLC & Partnership Law
Design, Fashion & Luxury
E-Discovery & Records Management
Energy & Utilities
Environment & Energy
Financial Institutions
Food & Beverage
Government Affairs
Government Contracts & Global Trade
Government Investigations & White Collar Defense
Healthcare
Hospitality
Immigration
Impact Investing
Insurance Recovery, Litigation & Counseling
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Life Sciences
Manufacturing
Products Liability, Mass Torts & Consumer Class Actions
Public Finance
Real Estate
Renewable Energy
Sports & Entertainment
Tax & Employee Benefits
Technology Transactions
Transportation, Logistics & Supply Chain Management
Trusts, Estates & Private Clients
Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Companies
  • Broadcasts
  • Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • View All Insights
Search By:
Insights Publication Magazine Open Stack
Main image for Fraud Trial May Make Ex-Insys CEO Face of Opioid Crisis
News|Quote

Fraud Trial May Make Ex-Insys CEO Face of Opioid Crisis

Bloomberg

1.27.2019

The first prosecution of a pharmaceutical company’s chief executive involved with opioid overdoses begins this week with Insys Therapeutics Inc.’s John Kapoor, the results of which may shock an industry facing large penalties for its role in the crisis.

Kapoor allegedly used speakers’ fees, dinners, and cash to convince doctors to prescribe a highly addictive opioid painkiller meant solely for patients with cancer, contributing to widespread addiction and death. More than 1,500 local governments have sued opioid makers and distributors to recover the billions of dollars spent fighting the epidemic.

Former CEO Michael Babich pleaded guilty this month and agreed to cooperate in a bid for leniency. Other defendants include manager Alec Burlakoff, former vice president Michael Gurry, ex-national sales director Richard Simon, and former regional sales director Joseph Rowan. The accused deny wrongdoing.

Robert Mintz noted that the defense lawyer, Beth Wilkinson, may cast blame on Babich and Burlakoff because they oversaw the speaker’s program that was key in the alleged plot.

“She could very well argue the wrongdoing was committed by these lower-level executives, who had their own financial interests in pushing sales of the drug,’’ he said. “She may tell the jury they are now throwing their former boss under the bus to save themselves.’’

Read More (Subscription Required)

sidebar

pdfemail

Related People

Media item: Robert A. Mintz
Robert A. Mintz

Partner

Subscribe to our Insights
McCarter & English, LLP
Copyright © 2023 McCarter & English, LLP. All Rights Reserved.
  • Login
  • Attorney Advertising
  • Privacy
  • Awards Methodology
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Sitemap

The McCarter & English, LLP website is for informational purposes only. We do not provide legal advice on this website. We can provide legal advice only to our clients in specific inquiries that they address to us. If you are interested in becoming a client, please contact us, but do not send any information about your specific legal question. We cannot serve as your lawyers until we establish an attorney-client relationship, which can occur only after we follow procedures within our firm and after we agree to the terms of the representation.

Accept Cancel