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The Hard Sell
The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup | Evan Hughes
7 posts | 6 read | 10 to read
The blistering inside story of a startup that made millions pushing opioids--until its cutthroat tactics were exposed and its executives put behind bars John Kapoor had amassed a small fortune in pharmaceuticals when he conceived of a new product. It was the 2000s, and opioids were big business. If Kapoor, an immigrant and the billionaire founder of Insys, could find a new way to administer the highly potent fentanyl, he could patent his invention and sell it to those in need--at a steep price. The only problem: There weren't enough people in need. Kapoor's drug was approved for breakthrough cancer pain. If Subsys was going to turn a profit, the company would need to persuade doctors to prescribe it "off-label," for other, lesser forms of pain. This is the story of how Insys turned a niche drug into big business. With executives leading the charge, Insys sales reps seduced doctors with charm, money, and sex. Its administrators lied to health care providers, claiming recipients had cancer when they did not. It pushed drugs onto patients that would have benefited from safer options, or no drugs at all. The strategy worked: When Insys went public, it notched the biggest IPO of its year. But several employees reached their limit and quietly blew the whistle, bringing the full force of the justice system upon the drug maker. In The Hard Sell, author and National Magazine Award-finalist Evan Hughes lays bare the pharma playbook. He shows how drug makers like Insys, fueled by greed and a hunger for market share, turn deception into profit. The book represents a stunning vindication, but also a cautionary tale. As Hughes shows, Insys didn't do anything its competitors weren't also doing. It was simply worse at covering its tracks.
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SweetP1967
SweetP1967
The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup | Evan Hughes
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Pickpick

Sad story, repeated by so many companies that were more concerned about profits than the people impacted by their actions.

3 likes
blurb
sebrittainclark
sebrittainclark
The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup | Evan Hughes
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#LetterH recs:
The Hard Sell by Evan Hughes
How Long 'til Black Future Month by N.K. Jemisin

#AlphabetGame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 📚❤️📚 2y
32 likes1 comment
review
JenReadsAlot
JenReadsAlot
The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup | Evan Hughes
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Mehso-so

I just thought this was okay. Part of my problem was how much I loved Empire of Pain and found myself comparing the two. I wanted more personal stories or something.

EvieBee I think Empire of Pain is so good that it‘s the new threshold. 2y
JenReadsAlot @EvieBee It was fantastic! 2y
27 likes2 comments
review
Christine
Christine
The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup | Evan Hughes
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Pickpick

Opioid crisis nonfiction is definitely in my wheelhouse, and I flew through this one, thanks to a well-written narrative and lots of interesting detail. I hadn‘t realized that I already knew a bunch about this company‘s story (must have been from a doc or podcast?). Some despicably memorable characters, for sure. All that being said, mostly I found this book exhausting and sad. Thinking about how our systems perpetuate ⬇️

Christine drug abuse epidemics (and infectious disease ones 😣) is just so depressing. (edited) 2y
nikirtehsuxlol Did you read empire of pain? 2y
Christine @nikirtehsuxlol I did and thought it was great! 2y
42 likes3 comments
review
Megabooks
Megabooks
The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup | Evan Hughes
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Pickpick

You‘ve probably read the story of OxyContin, but have you heard of Subsys? This is the shocking story of the rise of John Kapoor and Insys, a small pharmaceutical company that rocked the world of chronic pain and fentanyl in the early 2010s. They took Perdue‘s playbook into hyperdrive and payed doctors to prescribe and had an in-house department that committed insurance fraud. A must-read if you enjoyed Empire of Pain or Bad Blood! 5⭐️

Tags ⬇️

Megabooks #pop22 #QuoteFromFaveAuthor (Keefe) @Cinfhen @BarbaraBB @KarenUK @Kalalalatja @4thhouseontheleft @RaeLovesToRead @Laughterhp @Cortg #Nonfiction22 #ImACriminal @Riveted_Reader_Melissa 2y
Cinfhen #stacked and can‘t wait to pick it up!! 2y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I think you‘d really like it! 2y
See All 14 Comments
audraelizabeth On my list for a challenge this year 2y
squirrelbrain Ooh, I loved Empire of Pain & Bad Blood… stacked! 2y
Megabooks @audraelizabeth awesome! Enjoy! 2y
Megabooks @squirrelbrain 👍🏻👍🏻 this was really good! I think you‘ll agree. 😁 2y
audraelizabeth Thanks. 2y
BookLineNSinker I am a substance use counselor by trade and I'll definitely take a look! Thank you so much! 2y
JenReadsAlot Picking up from my library in the next few days! 2y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa This sounds so good, and like I‘m going to be really REALLY mad when I read it. 2y
Megabooks @BudgetingBookwormBabe ah yes! This would be perfect for you. 👍🏻 2y
Megabooks @JenReadsAlot fantastic! Enjoy! 2y
Megabooks @Riveted_Reader_Melissa yup on both counts! 2y
78 likes8 stack adds14 comments
blurb
Megabooks
Megabooks
The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup | Evan Hughes
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Three books on this #NewReleaseTuesday!

I have been SO EXCITED for The Hard Sell even since @sebrittainclark put it on my #ReadersRadar last year. Tagged ⬆️ It‘s about Insys, which is reminiscent of Perdue Pharma.

Joan Is Okay: I enjoyed her debut Chemistry so I thought I‘d give this a listen. Tagged ⬇️

The other library book I don‘t know much about. We shall see. Tagged ⬇️

tagged users iconCinfhen
Megabooks
[tagged book]Joan Is Okay
2y
Megabooks
[tagged book]The Art of More: How Mathematics Created Civilization
2y
Cinfhen Tagged book sounds fabulous 🎧🙌🏻 I read Joan is Okay - it was okay 😉 2y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I thought I remembered that from your review, but I still thought I‘d give it a shot. About halfway done with THS (it‘s awesome 👍🏻👍🏻) and starting book 3 of To Paradise (wtf is going on). Lots of reading time today, but probably not as much again until Friday afternoon. 2y
Cinfhen Go you!!! You‘re reading SO MUCH at once 🙌🏻💜 2y
62 likes5 comments
review
sebrittainclark
sebrittainclark
The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup | Evan Hughes
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Pickpick

5/5

I could not put The Hard Sell down once I started reading. It documents how the company Insys inappropriately marketed their fentanyl based pain killer, Subsys, to doctors (including bribes and kickbacks) and encouraged those doctors to prescribe Subsys inappropriately to patients. I think anyone who found Bad Blood fascinating, will be similarly interested and horrified by The Hard Sell as well.

Smrloomis I found Bad Blood fascinating and could not put it down (even though it made me really angry at the same time). I‘ll have to check out this one! 📚📚📚 2y
sebrittainclark @Smrloomis I felt the same way about both 2y
rachelsbrittain Definitely going to have to read this and definitely going to be infuriated. 2y
Megabooks I saw this on an hbo documentary. Going to check it out! Thanks! 2y
48 likes3 stack adds4 comments