Doctor pleads guilty to Insys opioid spray kickback scheme

October 25, 2017 5:03 pm

Dr. Jerrold Rosenberg. Courtesy of YouTube.

By: The Associated Press

Email: news@abc6.com

Twitter: @ABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island doctor has pleaded guilty to accepting kickbacks in return for prescribing a highly addictive fentanyl spray made by Insys Therapeutics.

Jerrold Rosenberg pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Providence to health care fraud and kickbacks conspiracy.

Rosenberg admitted that he prescribed Subsys, meant for cancer patients with breakthrough pain, to patients who didn’t have cancer.

He also admitted conspiring with Insys executives and others to receive kickbacks for writing the prescriptions.

He’s scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 16.

A spokesman for Arizona-based Insys says the company is under new management and has taken steps to conduct business ethically.

The Rhode Island case is one of several around the country brought against Insys executives, managers and health care providers in relation to the scheme.