How the ‘Worst’ Launch in Pharma History Spurred Opioid Surge
- Insys’s former CEO testifies against boss of 14 years
- Babich says Kapoor wasn’t one to have his mind changed
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Insys Therapeutics Inc. founder John Kapoor was so determined to get back the millions he spent launching the company that he led Insys on a disastrous path of pushing its addictive opioid drug on patients who didn’t need them, his former chief executive officer testified.
The way Kapoor ignored his subordinates, “you really don’t want to push back because once he makes up his mind, the decision is done,” Michael Babich told a Boston jury at Kapoor’s racketeering trial on Tuesday. His demands contributed to a shift in marketing strategy after the company’s fumbled launch of its Subsys painkiller in March 2012, Babich said.