
Billionaire Insys founder charged in U.S. opioid bribe case - propman
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-insys-founder-charged-u-161046664.html
======
20170319
The cynic in me thinks Kapoor was "sacrificed" to shield the Sacklers. Sort of
like how Rajaratnam was "sacrificed" to shield the large banks.

~~~
amsilprotag
For those unfamiliar, or who want to explore the idea that Kapoor simply
didn't bribe conspicuously enough, see [0]. And although it is true that so-
called "deaths of despair" are all increasing[1], the trend-lines for opiates
look especially distressing[2].

[0] [http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12775932/sackler-
famil...](http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12775932/sackler-family-
oxycontin/)

[1]
[http://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15078](http://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15078)

[2] [https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-
statistics/o...](https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-
statistics/overdose-death-rates)

------
tryingagainbro
_...as much as 10,000 times more potent than morphine_ _...In the US Fentanyl
caused 20,100 deaths in 2016, a rise of 540% over the past 3 years._

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fentanyl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fentanyl)

Put him in the cell next to El Chappo IMO.

If the government digs they will find something and they have plenty of tools
for informers. You cannot manage a billion dollar corporation with thousands
of employees by whispering while walking like John Gotti. There's trail...

~~~
couchdive
yeah and the entire FDA group that allowed this and maybe the pain center
doctors who ran pill mills all over the midwest and south? Nah, they are all
rich, easier to find a scapegoat, pretend your doing something, and gloat. The
life of politics. Maybe declare a war on drugs!

~~~
adventured
Don't forget the Congress and President that enabled it through legislation.

> Maybe declare a war on drugs!

Declare a national public health emergency. That'll surely make a dent.

"Trump declares opioid epidemic a national public health emergency"

[http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/26/politics/donald-trump-
opioid-e...](http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/26/politics/donald-trump-opioid-
epidemic/index.html)

~~~
gozur88
I don't know if it's true in this case, but there are a lot of things for
which an official declaration of emergency allows you to tap funds that
wouldn't otherwise be available.

------
kolbe
At least one step in the right direction. But we're still pretty far from
reaching some parity with the idea that it's often a life sentence to be
driving in a car with someone who commits a murder if you're poor and black,
but it's some soft white collar club fed crime to get thousands addicted to
your drug, take their money, ruin their families for years and eventually take
their lives.

~~~
throwaway0255
I can choose not to buy and take opiates. I can't choose to not be murdered.

Murderers are much worse, and prisons better serve their purpose when they're
used for murderers and their accomplices than when they're used for white
collar crime.

~~~
QAPereo
Spoken like someone who’s never had major surgery or trauma.

~~~
tuxxy
Exactly.

I know some pretty tough guys. One of which took a gunshot wound and barely
needed any recovery time.

This same guy got in a car accident that ruined his back. After some surgery,
he tried to not use opioid pain killers, but he described it as maddening.
It's not the pain that brings you issues, it's the constant dull, aching pains
that give your life grief.

He started taking prescribed opioids for it. When it came time to ween off of
them, he said it was like looking into a void where he had two exceptionally
clear choices: continue using opioids, or struggle to get off of them. He
picked the latter and is opioid free for a few years now. He said it was the
hardest thing he's ever done.

He's just happy to say that he doesn't need them anymore.

~~~
datawarrior
When I was 19 I messed my back up very badly on the job. The company tried
very hard not to take responsibility for it, going so far as court with
dueling doctors.

The fact I refused opiods for my pain was used against me, "If it's so bad why
aren't you taking the pain medications?"

My lawyer told me that if I had taken them I likely would have gotten 50% more
int he settlement. I don't regret it though. Addiction is a major problem in
my family.

~~~
jdhawk
So always get the script, then flush them?

~~~
tomjakubowski
A strategy defeated by a single question under oath: “And were you taking the
drugs as prescribed?”

------
thinkloop
The most addictive substance on the planet, and still have to make bribes,
strange.

------
BatFastard
I wish we had Mueller on this case.

------
joering2
He should stop pledging not guilty because he really may see 20 years behind.

Even his wife pledged against him:

[https://seekingalpha.com/article/4087622-insys-guilty-
pleas-...](https://seekingalpha.com/article/4087622-insys-guilty-pleas-get-
closer-former-ceo)

------
PrgsvThgt
Does anyone struggle with the fact that 1) people who are very sick or injured
need pain control and 2) the only tool in a doctor's bag is an opoid and 3) we
are somehow going after the people that produce the opoids that patients need,
to live a less-painful life?

Far more people die annually of alcohol related illnesses, than do opoid
overdoses. This is the "crisis" is not a crisis at all. In fact, if you review
the CDC's numbers, the rate of increase in opoid related deaths and the total
number, relative to other more significant causes of death, are unremarkable.
[link] [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-
death.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm)

By the numbers, we should be tripling and quadrupling the amount of money for
mental health treatment to reduce suicide and alcohol dependency.

Please, before you vote down or troll me, review the numbers yourself. The
numbers speak for themselves
[link][https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus16.pdf#019](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus16.pdf#019)

~~~
colordrops
You changed the subject to alcohol though. No one said alcohol wasn't a
problem or that opioids have no use. We might as well start talking about
first addressing everyone killed in car accidents or unjust wars.

~~~
PrgsvThgt
I was trying to bring into focus some key challenges. I've personally known
two people whom overdosed on heroine. It's a tragedy, for certain. However,
I'm just trying to indicate that we have tragedies happening, all over. I
think everyone has a very emotional reaction to this issue. I'm just asking
people to think about the data...

As for this company, maybe they are guilty, I don't know. If they are, shame
on them!!

My uncle eventually died of bone cancer (metastatic). His last few months were
awful. They were less-awful, because he had a fentanyl patch, that we replace
every 24 hours.

Please be thoughtful, that's all I'm asking.

~~~
mustacheemperor
As another commenter noted, you are not looking at the data thoroughly
yourself.

Also, nobody is arguing these opiods don't help the people who need them. The
atrocity here is that doctors were bribed to prescribe them to patients who
didn't need them at all.

