The former head of drug company was sentenced Wednesday to two and a half years in federal prison in a bribery and kickbacks scheme that prosecutors say helped fuel the opioid crisis.
Michael Babich, a Scottsdale, Arizona, resident who was CEO of Insys Therapeutics, was sentenced Wednesday in Boston federal court after pleading guilty to conspiracy and fraud and serving as a key witness for prosecutors.
Employees for Arizona-based Insys paid millions of dollars in bribes to doctors nationwide to overprescribe Subsys, a powerful, addictive fentanyl-based painkiller for cancer patients, prosecutors argued.
They said the company paid doctors fees for participating in sham speaking events. It also misled insurers to get payment for the drug, which cost as much as $19,000 a month, prosecutors said.
The case was considered the first to hold an opioid maker and its executives criminally liable for a nationwide drug crisis that has claimed nearly 400,000 lives over two decades.
California governor rejects PG&E bankruptcy recovery
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging a federal judge to reject Pacific Gas and Electric's blueprint for getting out of bankruptcy and renewing his threat to lead a bid to turn the beleaguered utility into a government-run operation.
In a court filing Wednesday, Newsom's lawyers gave a sternly worded rebuke of PG&E's plan, escalating the intrigue in the year-old case that will determine the fate of the nation's largest utility. PG&E is trying to dig out of a financial hole created by more than $50 billion in claims stemming from a series of catastrophic wildfires that have been blamed on the San Francisco company.
The Democratic governor's misgivings cast more uncertainty on PG&E's hopes to emerge from bankruptcy by June 30 even as it makes progress on other fronts. The San Francisco company rid itself of another irritant Wednesday by striking a deal with a group of bondholders that had been pushing a competing reorganization plan that had been opposed by PG&E's management.
Tesla stock value tops $100 billion
The meteoric rise of Tesla shares that recently pushed the company's value over $100 billion could turn into a supercharged payday for CEO Elon Musk.
Stock in Tesla Inc. rose 4.1% Wednesday, pushing the market value of the electric vehicle and solar panel maker past a critical milestone in Musk's pay package. He could get a stock options package worth over $371 million.
Tesla shares closed at $569.56 on Wednesday, giving the company a market capitalization of $102.7 billion. Shares have tripled in value since May, meaning Tesla's market capitalization now exceeds the value of Ford and General Motors, combined.