'Pain Hustlers' John Kapoor Is Expected To Be Released From Prison In 2 Months
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Fresh off the massive success that was Painkiller, which followed the Sackler family's role in the opioid epidemic, Netflix is here with another story about a pharma company and its ties to the crisis. Pain Hustlers, which dropped on the streamer on October 27, is already getting buzz for its portrayal of a company that bribed doctors to buy its highly addictive drug, called Subsys. The doctors would then prescribe the drug to patients.
The movie stars big A-listers like Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, and Catherine O’Hara, so you know it’s going to be good.
But is Pain Hustlers based on a true story like Painkiller was? Or is this just really good fiction? Here’s what to know deal.
Is Pain Hustlers based on a true story?
Yup, the new movie is loosely based on a true story. And the movie is actually based on a book called Pain Hustlers: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup, by Evan Hughes, which was originally called Hard Sell. Hughes' book stemmed from a New York Times article he wrote, published in May of 2018, called "The Pain Hustlers."
The book (and article) tells the story of pharma exec John Kapoor, who founded a company called Insys Therapeutics in the early 2000s. The Arizona-based pharmaceutical company had "only one branded product, a new and highly potent opioid painkiller called Subsys," which hit the market in 2012, Hughes' article explains. Kapoor developed the new formulation of the incredibly addictive opioid, and recruited a team of dedicated sales people who targeted doctors who were receptive to their marketing and bribery tactics.
“The drug was a niche product, approved only for cancer patients in dire condition, but the company’s leadership pushed it more widely, and together they turned Insys into a Wall Street sensation,” the book's Amazon description reads.
What is Subsys?
Subsys is a opioid painkiller that belonged to a specific class of highly-addictive fentanyl products called TIRF drugs, which "are approved exclusively for the treatment of 'breakthrough' cancer pain," per the NYT. So basically, that meant it helped address any pain that couldn't be managed by longer-acting opioids cancer patients were already taking.
Is Insys a real company?
Yes, Insys is a real company—or, it was. It was based in Arizona, per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Is John Kapoor a real person?
Yes, John Kapoor was a real person. He was born in India and went to college in America on scholarship, according to Forbes. Kapoor develop a spray called Subsys that used fentanyl to help with pain. While it was approved to help cancer patients in serious pain, Kapoor built a team who bribed doctors into prescribing the medication to patients, even when it wasn’t medically necessary.
What happened to John Kapoor?
Kapoor became a billionaire—Forbes once called him “one of the most successful pharmaceutical entrepreneurs in America”—but law enforcement eventually caught wind of the company's bribery techniques.
In 2018, Kapoor and six other senior Insys execs were eventually charged with bribery and fraud, but pled not guilty, per the NYT.
In 2019, he was convicted by a federal jury of racketeering (dishonest business dealings) conspiracy along with four other Insys executives. Then, in 2020, Kapoor was sentenced to 66 months (five and a half years) in jail for “orchestrating a scheme to bribe practitioners to prescribe Subsys…often when medically unnecessary,” per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The 80-year-old former exec is currently serving time at a federal prison in Phoenix with an expected release date of December 17, 2023, per the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
What happened to Insys?
Insys was ordered to pay $225 million to the U.S. government and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2019 after Kapoor was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, according to Frontline. The company's medication Subsys was sold to Wyoming-based BTcP Pharma.
Pain Hustlers is now streaming on Netflix.
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