The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. January 27, 2020 High-Ranking Pharma Exec Sentenced to 5.5 Years for Role in Opioid Crisis ------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Boston, the founder of Insys Therapeutics has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison in a landmark case for the opioid crisis. John Kapoor and four other executives were convicted last May of a criminal conspiracy to bribe doctors to prescribe a highly addictive fentanyl spray to patients who didn't need it. One of the defendants allegedly gave a lap dance to a doctor at a company event in order to persuade him to prescribe the drug. Legal experts say the sentencing should be a warning to other drug company executives who have engaged in deceptive marketing practices and other schemes to push opioids. .