With corrupt corporate practices so much in the news these days, thanks to the Trudeau government's attempts at subverting justice for SNC Lavalin, I couldn't help but be struck by the naked greed so evident in the practices of a pharmaceutical called Insys Therapeutics. Several of the company's executives
... are currently on trial in Boston on charges of racketeering, fraud, and conspiracy, in connection to an alleged nationwide scheme to pay doctors bribes and kickbacks in exchange for prescribing the company’s fentanyl-based pain medication Subsys to patients who would not otherwise require the drug. The executives are also accused of conspiring to mislead and defraud insurance providers that were reasonably reluctant to cover costs for a medication designed for cancer patients when prescribed to patients without cancer.To appreciate the depth of the company's greed and depravity, go to the 9:16 mark of the following news report, which includes a video extolling the virtues of something called titration, the practice of increasing the dose of a drug:
The 'rap' video excerpted in the above report (I will provide links to the full video at the end of this post) was created for and shown at Insys' 2015 national sales meeting. The message was clear: the more you 'push' the drug, the higher your sales commission will be.
According to former Senator Claire McCaskill, who helped investigate Insys last year,
"What they are saying to their sales representatives is, 'It's not enough that you get a doctor to prescribe it," said McCaskill, now an NBC News analyst. She said the company was telling its employees, "'We're going to pay you five times as much if you can get him to prescribe the strongest dose possible.'"Interestingly, the company's response to these charges echoes the one heard from SNC Lavalin about the 'rogue employees' who acted without company authority in bribery of Libyan officials to the tune of $48 Million - (their petty cash reserves must be a marvel, eh?):
"The company in no way defends the misconduct of former employees and is fully cooperating with the government."Nothing to see here, eh?
NEW: Here's the internal Insys video to the tune of A$AP Rocky's "F--kin' Problems" in which employees dance around former sales VP Alec Burlakoff, who is dressed as a life-size bottle of fentanyl spray. It was shown to a jury in Boston federal court today. pic.twitter.com/0SPIEDRpnX
— Aaron Leibowitz (@aaron_leib) February 13, 2019
Here's Part 2. They're singing about "titration," a reference to the process of doctors increasing the dosage for patients as they build tolerance. pic.twitter.com/J60hYQw0PA
— Aaron Leibowitz (@aaron_leib) February 13, 2019
Another sign of our times, Lorne. The rot goes deep.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, Owen, I think I have seen it all. Then something like this comes along to suggest I am unspeakably naive.
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ReplyDeleteWe're rotting from the inside out, Lorne. Honesty and morality are no longer a baseline. It seems to be part and parcel of the "because I can" ethos that has inflicted so much damage on humankind and our planet and yet there is no sign of anyone stopping it. Oh well, tomorrow it'll be something else. There's always something else. It can seem as though they're coming in rotation.
Indeed, Mound. There is always something else and, as meteorologists often say, there is no relief in sight.
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