Opioid repression could lead to more bankruptcies of pharmaceutical companies: NPR

Two years ago, the pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics achieved annual sales of a quarter of a billion dollars. But the fortune of the Arizona-based company plummeted until Monday as its leaders declared themselves bankrupt. This was the latest consequence of the country's prescription opioid epidemic, which killed more than 200,000 Americans and triggered hundreds of lawsuits against Big Pharma.

Insys has marketed an opioid painkiller called Subsys containing fentanyl. It has generated tens of millions of dollars in annual sales. But, like other prescription opioids marketed aggressively by the drug industry, it has turned out to be very dependent.

Many of the largest companies in the drug industry are involved in a wave of opioid litigation, including leading brands like Johnson & Johnson and CVS. It is unlikely that large companies are following the example of Insys and are seeking Chapter 11 protection, but smaller companies, including Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, have already announced this possibility .

Lawyers representing hundreds of communities hoping to get compensation from Insys issued a statement Monday in which they said they would work to determine if the company was really insolvent. "We will actively seek full financial information regarding Insys and any other defendant who declares bankruptcy," said the plaintiff group.

They added that their goal of targeting 21 other pharmaceutical companies was not to dissolve them but to "reduce the current opioid epidemic and seek long-term sustainable solutions". National and local authorities hope to recover some of the billions of dollars spent on the opioid crisis.

A major opioid trial of the state is currently underway in Oklahoma against Johnson & Johnson, and a second consolidated trial against other companies is expected to begin in October in Ohio. . Judge Dan Polster, who chairs this federal case, urged the parties to reach a settlement so that communities receive compensation without disrupting the pharmaceutical industry.

Sources indicated that the RPN negotiations were ongoing, but no agreement had been reached.

In total, more than 1,800 state and local governments have prosecuted opioids. Penalties and regulations could rise to tens of billions of dollars, which is comparable to the large tobacco disbursements of the 1990s. The Insys decision comes one week after the firm pleaded guilty to charges of crime. He had accused doctors of bribing doctors that they were prescribing fentanyl Subys to patients who should not have taken it.

The company has agreed to pay $ 225 million in fines to the federal government. Last month, the company's founder, John Kapoor, a leading figure in the drug industry, was convicted of racketeering offenses by the federal government, along with four other executives. Insys. The company is still facing many other opioid-related lawsuits.

In his statement, Insys Chief Executive Officer Andrew Long said in a statement that these "inherited legal challenges" had contributed to the company's decision to embark on bankruptcy proceedings.

He added that a bankruptcy proceeding would allow the company to negotiate with the creditors.