Florida pain doctor to pay $1.5 million to settle US government’s lawsuit accusing him of accepting thousands of dollars to unnecessarily prescribe fentanyl product to patients , federal prosecutors announced.
In exchange for $159,580 in bribes, Dr. Edward Lubin prescribed a company’s fentanyl spray to dozens of people without a valid medical reason between 2014 and 2016, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District from Florida.
Insys Therapeutics, Inc. paid Lubin to issue prescriptions for Subsys, its product to treat breakthrough pain related to cancer, the attorneys’ office said in September 2021, when the lawsuit was filed.
Of the 61 patients Lubin prescribed the fentanyl spray to, 52 did not have cancer, according to prosecutors.
Fentanyl, a synthetic prescription opioid used to treat severe pain, is estimated to be approximately 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.
At least 15 doctors, seven former Insys executives and seven former Insys sales representatives have been criminally convicted in connection with the company’s scheme to defraud patients and medical insurers such as Medicare, the office said lawyers in a press release dated October 27.
Lubin agreed to the $1.5 million settlement to resolve the case and the government’s accusations that he violated the False Claims Act, the attorneys’ office said in the release. He is accused of violating the law by causing more than 400 false claims to be submitted for Subsys to Medicare and TRICARE.
The Tampa-based doctors’ settlement agreement constitutes neither an admission of liability on its part nor a concession by the United States that its claims are without merit, the court filing says.
McClatchy News contacted Lubin’s defense attorneys for comment on Oct. 30 and did not receive an immediate response.
The United States will not be thwarted in its efforts to hold accountable doctors like Dr. Lubin who issued medically unnecessary prescriptions tainted by bribes, U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg said in a statement.
Lubins’ participation in Insys’ mock speaker program
Lubin is accused of accepting bribes from Insys while practicing at the Gessler Clinic Professional Association in Winter Haven, about 50 miles east of Tampa, according to the settlement agreement.
In 2019, the Insys company was sued in federal court in Massachusetts and pleaded guilty to five counts of mail fraud in connection with its fake speakers program in which Lubin participated, prosecutors said.
Insys disguised bribes paid to Lubin and other doctors as compensation for speaking at fictitious events, prosecutors say.
These events lasted a few minutes, never took place or had repeat participants despite lacking any reason to present the same information multiple times to the same people, prosecutors said.
When Lubin caused more than 400 false claims for Insys fentanyl spray to be submitted to Medicare and TRICARE, the companies paid more than $4 million for the fraudulent claims, according to prosecutors.
The Insys program inspires a Netflix film
In 2018, Evan Hughes, while writing for The New York Times Magazine, helped reveal how Insys paid millions to doctors as part of its extensive fake speaker program in an article titled The Pain Hustlers.
Hughes also wrote a book about the case: The Pain Hustlers: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup.
Her article inspired the new Netflix movie Pain Hustlers starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The film is directed by David Yates, reports Tudum by Netflix.
“I was intrigued by the pharmaceutical world, particularly the low-cost industry, the reps and sales teams striving to make a living in a fiercely competitive industry of managing people’s pain,” he said. Yates told the media.
As for Lubin, on Oct. 27 his attorneys filed the lawsuit settlement agreement with the bankruptcy court, which has final approval, prosecutors said.
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