Amid a nationwide investigation into opioid abuse, federal investigators are continuing to crack down on one of the nation’s largest opioid distributors. Two more former employees of Chandler-based Insys Therapeutics pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court.
The charges are for bribing doctors in exchange for prescribing a powerful fentanyl medication made by Insys Therapeutics, the drugmaker facing multiple investigations by state and federal prosecutors.
Karen Hill pleaded guilty to violating the federal anti-kickback law by bribing doctors to prescribe the drug known as Subsys.
Natalie Levine pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the anti-kickback law as part of a scheme that defrauded federal health programs. The U.S. Attorneys Office says that caused $4.5 million in losses to Medicare.
The two join a growing list of former Insys employees to plead guilty to charges related to the sale of Subsys, a mouth-spray formulation approved by the FDA to treat extreme cancer-related pain.
