Consider the different perspectives that can be taken on the Insys case. Jackie Marcus argues that any illegality was limited to a small number of rogue individuals; while Richard C Ausness implies that this is an example of systemic, industry-wide abuse.

How might we examine and evaluate the validity of these two different perspectives?

Are there any other perspectives we might take? In May 2019 the former CEO and four former senior executives of Insys Therapeutics Inc. were found guilty in a US Federal court of conspiring to illegally boost sales of an addictive opioid. The CEO, John Kapoor, was also the founder of the company and its controlling stakeholder, owning more than 60 per cent of the stock.

The opioid, a fentanyl-based painkiller called Subsys, had previously achieved over 40 per cent of the opioid market for drugs that act quickly to treat moderate to severe pain. The court heard that the company had bribed doctors to prescribe Subsys, offering payments for speeches at events presented as ‘educational seminars’. Prosecutors said that these seminars were no more than social gatherings at restaurants, bars and strip clubs, and in many cases no speeches were delivered. Some doctors were paid over $100,000 a year in such bribes.