The founder of Insys Therapeutics John Kapoor has become the first pharmaceutical boss to be convicted in a case linked to the US opioid crisis.
A Boston jury found Kapoor and four colleagues conspired to bribe doctors to prescribe addictive painkillers, often to patients who didn't need them.
The former billionaire was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy for his role in a scheme which also misled insurers.
Tens of thousands of deaths have been caused by opioid overdoses in the US.
Indian-born Kapoor founded drugmaker Insys Therapeutics in 1990 and built it into a multi-billion dollar company.
The jury found Kapoor had also misled medical insurance companies about patients' need for the painkillers in order to boost sales of the firm's fentanyl spray, Subsys.
A Boston jury found Kapoor and four colleagues conspired to bribe doctors to prescribe addictive painkillers, often to patients who didn't need them.
The former billionaire was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy for his role in a scheme which also misled insurers.
Tens of thousands of deaths have been caused by opioid overdoses in the US.
Indian-born Kapoor founded drugmaker Insys Therapeutics in 1990 and built it into a multi-billion dollar company.
The jury found Kapoor had also misled medical insurance companies about patients' need for the painkillers in order to boost sales of the firm's fentanyl spray, Subsys.