Drug Company Sales Rep Sentenced for Role in Kickback Scheme Related to Fentanyl Spray Prescriptions

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that NATALIE LEVINE, 35, of Scottsdale, Arizona, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to five years of probation for engaging in a kickback scheme related to fentanyl spray prescriptions.  Judge Arterton also ordered Levine to spend the first six months of probation in home confinement, and to perform 150 hours of community service.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from approximately March 2013 to October 2014, Levine was employed by Insys Therapeutics, an Arizona-based pharmaceutical company that manufactured and sold Subsys, a fentanyl-based sublingual spray that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration solely for the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients.  Levine was a sales representative for the company and was responsible for covering the territories that included Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Levine induced certain medical practitioners, including an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) in Connecticut, a physician’s assistant (PA) in New Hampshire, and a physician in Rhode Island, to prescribe Subsys by paying them to participate in hundreds of sham “Speaker Programs.”  The Speaker Programs, which were typically held at high-end restaurants, were ostensibly designed to gather licensed healthcare professionals who had the capacity to prescribe Subsys and educate them about the drug.  In truth, the events were usually just a gathering of friends and co-workers, most of whom did not have the ability to prescribe Subsys, and no educational component took place.  “Speakers” were paid a fee that ranged from $1,000 to several thousand dollars for attending these dinners.  At times, the sign-in sheets for the Speaker Programs were forged so as to make it appear that the programs had an appropriate audience of healthcare professionals.

The medical practitioners were paid thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks in order to prescribe Subsys, and induce others to prescribe Subsys, over similar medications.  Medicare Part D plans authorized payment for hundreds of Subsys prescriptions written by the three medical practitioners, resulting in a loss of approximately $4.5 million. 

Levine’s restitution figure will be determined after additional court proceedings.

On July 11, 2017, Levine pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback law.

Several other individuals affiliated with Insys Therapeutics, and medical practitioners involved in this kickback scheme, have been charged and convicted in the District of Connecticut and in other Districts across the United States.  In sentencing Levine, Judge Arterton credited Levine’s significant cooperation and assistance to the government’s prosecution of defendants in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

On January 3, 2019, Levine’s husband, Michael Babich, who was the CEO and President of Insys Therapeutics, pleaded guilty in the District of Massachusetts to conspiracy and fraud charges stemming from the scheme.  He awaits sentencing.

On May 2, 2019, a federal jury in Boston found John N. Kapoor, the founder and former Executive Chairman of Insys Therapeutics, and four other former Insys executives guilty of racketeering conspiracy.

Earlier this month, Insys Therapeutics agreed to pay a total of $225 million to resolve criminal and civil investigations of the company.

The investigation in the District of Connecticut is being conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas P. Morabito, Sarah P. Karwan and Richard M. Molot.

U.S. Attorney Durham encouraged individuals who suspect health care fraud to report it by calling the Health Care Fraud Task Force (203) 785-9270 or 1-800-HHS-TIPS.