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Minnesota sues Insys over illegal marketing of opioid painkiller

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy sued Insys Therapeutics Inc. over the alleged illegal marketing of its opioid painkiller Subsys.

Subsys, a spray containing highly potent opioid fentanyl, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat breakthrough pain in cancer patients.

The lawsuit claims the company induced doctors to prescribe Subsys to non-cancer patients and in doses far higher than its FDA approved label.

The Chandler, Ariz.-based company is also alleged to have paid kickbacks to doctors in form of 'speaker fees' to incentivize them to prescribe Subsys. This mode of payment allegedly allowed the company to skirt a Minnesota law that prohibits pharmaceutical companies from paying gifts to doctors.

The state is seeking injunctive relief from Insys as part of the lawsuit.

Insys is facing multiple federal and state investigations for its alleged role in fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic, with the company's founder and former CEO John Kapoor already indicted in an opioid probe by Massachusetts.