Physician Bribery / Image: Fierce Healthcare
It seems there are more and more stories about drugmakers deterring the use of opioids and working with the FDA to develop non-addictive versions. However a recent NBC News article covered an instance where the opposite occurred. According to the report, five doctors in Manhattan received “speaker fees” in the form of cash, fancy dinners, and trips to the strip club.
The drugmaker, Insys Therapeutics, allegedly paid the doctors more than $800,000 to prescribe the addictive opioid spray, which is 50-100 times more potent than morphine, to patients regardless of whether or not it was necessary. The five doctors were indicted on charges including conspiracy that could carry a sentence of 20 years in prison.
