Five top rated professionals of Insys Therapeutics — maker of Subsys, a variation of the highly effective artificial opioid fentanyl — had been identified responsible on federal government racketeering charges for bribing medical professionals to recommend the painkiller to persons who did not require it. They had been also found guilty of defrauding Medicare and private insurance.

The opioid epidemic has wiped out almost 400,000 Americans since 1999, based on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Subsys regarded as a rapid-onset opioid meant just for cancer individuals with extreme breakthrough discomfort. Prosecutors stated the defendants conspired to entice medical professionals, consisting of a large number of who ran pain treatment centers, to give the medication to individuals who should not have obtained it.

The medication is about 100 times stronger when compared to morphine. A large number of states are ready to bring litigation by state attorney general against significant drugmakers, accusing these people of strongly advertising opioids and encouraging the country’s opioid crisis.