U.S. joins False Claims Act suit against Insys Therapeutics alleging kickbacks and more to promote opioid sales of Subsys

The United States has intervened in five lawsuits against Insys Therapeutics Inc., alleging violations of the False Claims Act in marketing of Subsys, an opioid painkiller manufactured and sold by Insys. Subsys is a sublingual spray form of fentanyl, a powerful, but highly addictive, opioid painkiller.Œ In 2012, Subsys was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of persistent breakthrough pain in adult cancer patients who are already receiving, and tolerant to, around-the-clock opioid therapy. TheŒ United States alleges that Insys paid kickbacks to induce physicians and nurse practitioners to prescribe Subsys for their patients. Many of these kickbacks took the form of speaker program payments for speeches to physicians that were, in fact, shams; jobs for the prescribers’ relatives and friends; and lavish meals and entertainment. The United States also alleges that Insys improperly encouraged physicians to prescribe Subsys for patients who did not have cancer, and that Insys employees lied to insurers about patients’ diagnoses in order to obtain reimbursement for Subsys prescriptions that had been written for Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries.