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Doctor tied to Insys opioid kickback probe gets prison term

DETROIT (Reuters) - A Michigan doctor linked to a federal investigation into allegations that Insys Therapeutics Inc paid kickbacks to medical practitioners to prescribe its flagship opioid product was sentenced on Monday to 32 months in prison.

Gavin Awerbuch, 59, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow in Detroit after admitting that he wrote prescriptions for Insys' fentanyl-based cancer pain medication Subsys for non-legitimate uses and committed health care fraud.

"It's simply impossible to say how sorry I am," Awerbuch said in court.

Awerbuch is one of several doctors whose interactions with Insys have formed the basis of an indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Boston against several former company executives, including billionaire founder John Kapoor.

Prosecutors have accused Kapoor, ex-Insys Chief Executive Michael Babich and five other former executives and managers of conspiring to bribe doctors to prescribe Subsys and to defraud insurers into paying for it.


Source :- yahoonews

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