Senator McCaskill Begins Probe of Prescription Opioid Marketing
March 28 2017 - 12:05PM
Dow Jones News
By Jonathan D. Rockoff
An influential Democratic lawmaker has begun a probe into the
marketing of opioid drugs, sending letters to Purdue Pharma LP,
Johnson & Johnson and other big sellers of the pain medicines
for materials detailing sales practices.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D.-Mo.), the top-ranking Democrat on the
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said
she aims to clarify "the challenges industry practices pose to
efforts to curb opioid addiction."
Other companies receiving letters from Sen. McCaskill requesting
various company documents and information are Insys Therapeutics
Inc., Mylan NV and Depomed Inc.
A Depomed spokesman said the company is reviewing the letter and
"will respond accordingly." The other companies didn't immediately
respond to requests for comment.
The companies aren't required by law to respond, because Sen.
McCaskill sent the letters individually, rather than with the
chairman of the committee. A spokesman for the senator said she
hopes the companies will respond "given the gravity and importance
of the issue."
In 2015, more than 15,000 people died in the U.S. from overdoses
involving prescription opioids, according to the latest data from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The deaths have sparked efforts to curb overuse of the
painkillers, along with scrutiny of the role that drugmakers have
played. Some big pharmaceutical companies have paid large fines
over their marketing of opioid painkillers. In 2007, Purdue
Frederick Co., an affiliate of Purdue Pharma, and three of its
executives pleaded guilty to criminal charges of misleading the
public about the addictive qualities of OxyContin, and agreed to
pay $634.5 million in fines.
In February, two Alabama doctors were convicted of taking
$115,000 in kickbacks from Insys and prescribing opioids for no
medical purpose, among other crimes. Prosecutors said Insys
employees disguised the kickbacks as legitimate fees paid to the
doctors for promoting the opioid painkiller Subsys at speaking
events. The doctors said they planned to appeal the
convictions.
Former Insys sales representative Natalie Perhacs pleaded guilty
to participating in the kickback scheme.
At least 10 former Insys employees, including former CEO Michael
Babich, have been arrested on federal criminal charges that include
racketeering, insurance fraud and paying kickbacks to doctors. Mr.
Babich and the other former employees have pleaded not guilty to
the allegations. Insys has said it is cooperating with all ongoing
investigations and is committed to complying with laws and
regulations.
Insys said Monday that Saeed Motahari, who had been Purdue
Pharma's chief operating officer, would become the company's chief
executive starting April 17.
Sen. McCaskill sent letters to the companies selling the
top-five prescription opioids by sales, though other companies also
have big revenue from their own painkillers.
In 2015, nearly 249 million prescriptions were dispensed for
opioids in the U.S., with the sales totaling $9.6 billion,
according to the latest data from IMS Health.
Among the materials Sen. McCaskill requested from the five
companies were "any internal estimates of the risk of" misuse,
abuse or diversion of a drug, marketing plans and any quotas issued
to sales representatives to recruit doctors to speak about the
products.
The requests follow the senator's request earlier this year that
the Justice Department's inspector general review the Drug
Enforcement Administration's role in curbing opioid abuse.
Write to Jonathan D. Rockoff at Jonathan.Rockoff@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 28, 2017 12:50 ET (16:50 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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