When Greed Burns: Big Pharma Boss Convicted In US Opioid Case (Video)
by N.Morgan The overdoses from the Opioid crisis are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in the United States. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , only in 2017, opioids, which involve everything from heroin to legal painkillers, led to almost 48,000 deaths. The epidemic started with legally prescribed painkillers, such as Percocet and OxyContin, and escalated as they were diverted to the black market. Moreover, the use of illegal opioids like heroin is also on the rise, and numerous street drugs are laced with powerful opioids like Fentanyl, raising the risk of an overdose. The Indian-born former billionaire John Kapoor founded drugmaker Insys Therapeutics in 1990 and built it into a multi-billion dollar company. In 2018, Forbes listed Kapoor’s net worth at $1.8bn (£1.4bn). Yet, he has become the first pharmaceutical boss to be convicted in a case linked to the US opioid crisis. A Boston jury found him an...