In early July, 2021, a court sentenced Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein, of New Rochelle, NY, to five-and-a-half years in prison for his role in a scheme to receive compensation from drug-maker Insys in exchange for prescribing the company’s Fentanyl product.
Over several years, Dr. Goldstein and four other New York-based physicians accepted speaking fees from Insys during events that the court ruled were social functions rather than legitimate professional conferences. While doctors are allowed to receive a reasonable honorarium in exchange for speaking at professional conferences, these functions were simply a mechanism for the company to pay the doctors to prescribe their product, which is illegal. All told, Dr. Goldstein received about $200,000 in improper compensation.
Throughout the opioid epidemic, pharmaceutical companies have competed fiercely for the lucrative painkiller market, and their practices have created to an overabundance of addictive drugs in the marketplace. Because both drug-makers and doctors have skirted the law in a variety of ways, those affected by opioid addiction stemming from painkiller use may have legal recourse, although the cases are complex and often difficult to try.
To learn more, read, “Manhattan Doctor Sentenced in Fentanyl Bribery Case.”
