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Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

fortune.com

71–80 of 129 posts

Re: Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

#71
post #66

As a side project I sorted the doctors based on opioid prescribe count. It isn't hard to see who the pill shops are -- I am sure the DEA can do a sql command. IMHO they (DEA) prefers kicking down doors in poor areas. https://www.opendoctor.io/opioid/highest/?hn=1 From article, John Couch and Xiulu Ruan are on top of the list.

Interesting that John Couch and Xiulu Ruan are on top of the list. They were mentioned in the article.

[deleted]

Re: Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

#72
post #41
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He did lose his medical license but he's also 63. After he's out, he's most likely going to retire.

If he saved enough, ha. You'd be surprised at how many doctors making $300k+/yr have less than a couple years' worth of expenses saved up :/

I imagine that the $800,000 in restitution and any other legal fees probably wiped all that out.

Re: Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

#73
post #8
post #5

Will Trump support the execution of this man and other legal drug dealers like him as well?

This is getting down voted but I don't think that's fair, it's not off topic. Trump said yesterday he's in favor of the death penalty for drug dealers because they are responsible for the death of others. It's a fair question to ask if there should be a distinction between street dealers and these doctors and executives.

Since the doctors can bribe him, we know what the answer is.

Re: Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

#74
post #6

How many years would a street dealer have gotten? 40 years?

You would fall under 'trafficking' which is federal (Schedule 1 or 2 depending). Schedule 1 that is up to 20 years in federal prison. You would probably plea down maybe get 14. There is no good time in federal prison so you do the full 14 years. Schedule 2 maybe 15 years plea down to 9 years. THAT is if things work out and you don't get a crazy federal prosecutor that wants to file multiple charges (unlikely). This is federal prison (traffickers, embezzlers, wire-fraud) so it isn't that bad compared to state (state is where they keep murders and rapists). EG Guys in for trafficking can probably hold a good game of chess and discuss current world events.

BUT then you might face state charges for possession if the DA wants to bother.

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30722.pdf

Re: Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

#75
post #68

As a side project I sorted the doctors based on opioid prescribe count. It isn't hard to see who the pill shops are -- I am sure the DEA can do a sql command. IMHO they (DEA) prefers kicking down doors in poor areas. https://www.opendoctor.io/opioid/highest/?hn=1 From article, John Couch and Xiulu Ruan are on top of the list.

As bad as pill mills are, wouldn't 'Pain Management' clinics rate high in this query since they give out pills to manage legitimate pain? I have multiple herniated cervical disks and am going in for surgery soon because the pain is debilitating and unbearable. Among other specialists, I saw a pain management doctor to understand my non-surgical options. Many people with my condition choose to not get implants or disk…

[deleted]

Re: Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

#76

"Rosenberg’s son was an Insys sales representative for a year and made “substantial commissions” from his father’s willingness to prescribe the drug, according to prosecutors. The son wasn’t charged in the case." A not-so-bright outlook for actually holding Insys's CEO responsible. Why were charges not brought on middle level employees especially if the father-son relationship could be an easy access route to bribery…

Perhaps this is an indication that the son flipped.

Re: Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

#77
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That just means we should treat low level criminals humanely. Four years is plenty. The thing where decade plus sentences are fairly common is unique in the first world: only in America. It’s barbaric and embarrassing. The science is pretty unambiguous—a high likelihood of being caught and punished is a better deterrent than a low-probability but larger punishment. So I don’t want to see this doctor get a 40-year sen…

Street dealers, "low level" or not, do actually kill their clients. Prison sentences for dealing hard drugs should be in line with prison sentences for murder, otherwise the implication is that the lives of drug users are much less valuable than the lives of regular people.

If I buy drugs from a street dealer I know what I'm getting into. If I get prescribed opioids from a supposedly trained professional whom I'm supposed to be able to trust I don't. So as far as I'm concerned adults should be allowed to take whatever drugs they want. However, it should be illegal to bullshit them into taking them. Especially as a medical professional.

Re: Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they are responsible for the death of others Are they? Those others knowingly and voluntarily took those drugs.

Addiction is not voluntary.

Funny enough, if I buy heroin on a street corner, the addiction is voluntary. If I get prescribed opioids and the doctor who I trust ensures me it's the right thing on my situation, I wouldn't call all cases "voluntary addiction".

Edit: I can buy a damn gun when I'm 18, but have to be 21 to drink beer and will never be allowed to buy LSD which is pretty safe and not addictive. WTF?! I blame religion and Puritan nut jobs.

Re: Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

#79
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As bad as pill mills are, wouldn't 'Pain Management' clinics rate high in this query since they give out pills to manage legitimate pain? I have multiple herniated cervical disks and am going in for surgery soon because the pain is debilitating and unbearable. Among other specialists, I saw a pain management doctor to understand my non-surgical options. Many people with my condition choose to not get implants or disk…

Yes! 'Pain Management' would be a high subscriber. But being the top 5 in the US? Maybe, but that is pretty strange - definitely worth a DEA trip. 'Family Medicine' in the top 40? Hm....

"A DEA trip" is not a small thing. It's a terrifying thing. It can be the end of your livelihood if you're a doctor, even if you've done nothing wrong. There is no shortage of stories about that happening (and what about the hundreds of patients who are suddenly left stranded with debilitating chronic pain?)[1]. I wouldn't call for you to have an "IRS trip" or some other jack-booted government agency, nor do I think you should call for the DEA to visit other people. It's this type of attitude that is literally killing pain patients [2].

But then again, I don't think it is any of my business what other adults want to put into their own bodies, so even if some doc office were a pill mill I wouldn't care.

[1] Here's one off the top of my head: https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/12/28/tennant-p...).

[2] https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/9/4/how-chronic...

Re: Doctor Gets 4 Years in Prison for Insys Opioid Kickbacks

#80

As a side project I sorted the doctors based on opioid prescribe count. It isn't hard to see who the pill shops are -- I am sure the DEA can do a sql command. IMHO they (DEA) prefers kicking down doors in poor areas. https://www.opendoctor.io/opioid/highest/?hn=1 From article, John Couch and Xiulu Ruan are on top of the list.

Interesting, though a bit dangerous to look just for outliers. Medecine advances by having physicians trying new things. You don't really want to end up with fully standardised prescriptions.
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