STAR WITNESS:
00:29:49
ALEC BURLAKOFF, THE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES AT INSYS, WHO HAD PLED GUILTY AND COOPERATED WITH PROSECUTORS. WE TALKED WITH ALEC BURLAKOFF, WITH THE CONSENT OF FEDERAL PROSECUTORS BEFORE HE WAS SENTENCED IN JANUARY, BUT AFTER HE HAD TESTIFIED ABOUT ILLEGAL SALES TACTICS AT INSYS, INCLUDING BRIBING PHYSICIANS. >> Whitaker: THE DOCTORS, ARE THEY AN EASY MARK? >> Burlakoff: NO. >> Whitaker: MOST DOCTORS WOULD THROW YOU OUT? >> Burlakoff: ABSOLUTELY. AND THE FASTER YOU GET THROWN OUT, THE BETTER. GET THROWN OUT AND MOVE ONTO THE NEXT GUY. KEEP GOING, KEEP GOING, AND EVENTUALLY SOMEBODY IS GOING TO STOP AND TALK TO YOU. AND YOU START TO WONDER WHY. I'M A SALES REPRESENTATIVE, I'M NOT A DOCTOR. THE DOCTOR IS LOOKING AT YOU, AND HE'S SAYING TO HIMSELF, WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME? W. I. F. M. WE CALL IT THE " WIFM ." >> Whitaker: THE WIFM. >> Burlakoff: WIFM. IF THEY'RE SAYING, " WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME ..." >> Whitaker: THEN YOU KNOW YOU'VE GOT ONE ON THE HOOK. >> Burlakoff: YOU GOT ONE ON THE HOOK. IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL. BUT YOU'RE GOING TO FIGURE OUT REAL QUICK THAT THE MORE YOU PAY THAT DOCTOR, THE MORE HE'S GOING TO PRESCRIBE. >> Whitaker: JOHN KAPOOR WAS A PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY SUCCESS STORY. HE IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES FROM INDIA AND, AS AN EXECUTIVE AND INVESTOR, MADE A FORTUNE WITH A SERIES OF DRUG COMPANIES. >> Kapoor: YOU AS AN ENTREPRENEUR HAVE TO HAVE A DREAM. AND THEN YOU WORK WITH PASSION TO MAKE THAT DREAM COME TRUE. >> Whitaker: JOHN KAPOOR HIRED ALEC BURLAKOFF AFTER THE SALESMAN REGALED HIM WITH STORIES FROM HIS DAYS AT CEPHALON, BRIBING DOCTORS, HE SAID, PAYING THEM FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS. >> Burlakoff: HE POUNDED THE TABLE, AND HE SAID, " THAT'S OUR NEXT V. P. OF SALES ." >> Whitaker: KAPOOR ASKED HIM TO START A SIMILAR SPEAKER PROGRAM AT INSYS. >> Burlakoff: I FELT LIKE I FINALLY MADE IT TO THE BIG LEAGUES. >> Whitaker: AND JOHN KAPOOR WAS ASKING YOU TO DO THIS? >> Burlakoff: YES. HE WANTED ME TO PAY DOCTORS TO PRESCRIBE SUBSYS. I COULD DO THAT. I'VE DONE IT BEFORE, I CAN DO IT AGAIN. >> Whitaker: AND YOU HAD TALKED ABOUT BRIBERY? >> Burlakoff: OH, YEAH. >> Whitaker: USED THAT WORD. >> Burlakoff: IF I THINK THAT HE'S GOING TO BE INTIMIDATED BY THE WORD " BRIBERY ," OR THAT HE HASN'T BEEN INVOLVED IN THAT BEFORE ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, I'M A FOOL. >> Whitaker: INSYS WOULD PAY SOME DOCTORS-- SALES REPS CALLED THEM " WHALES "-- AS MUCH AS $ 125, 000 A YEAR IN BRIBES, CAMOUFLAGED AS INSYS " SPEAKER PROGRAM" FEES. ALL THAT MONEY CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF FEDERAL PROSECUTORS IN BOSTON, NATHANIEL YEAGER AND DAVID LAZARUS. >> Nathaniel Yeager: THESE DOCTORS, THESE WHALES, WERE GETTING PAID TO SPEAK 40, 50 TIMES A YEAR. >> Whitaker: SO WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT A SPEAKER, YOU THINK OF HIM GOING TO, SAY A BALLROOM. AND YOU HAVE OTHER DOCTORS THERE. AND THE SPEAKER GETS UP AND MAKES A SPEECH ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF THIS DRUG. >> Yeager: RIGHT. >> Whitaker: THAT'S NOT WHAT WAS GOING ON. >> Yeager: NO, NO. >> Whitaker: WHAT WAS GOING ON, THEY SAY, WAS ILLEGAL, AND THE TWO PROSECUTORS LAUNCHED WHAT WOULD BECOME THE FIRST CRIMINAL CASE TO BRING PHARMACEUTICAL EXECUTIVES TO TRIAL FOR FUELING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC. THEY INDICTED SEVEN INSYS EXECUTIVES INCLUDING C. E. O. JOHN KAPOOR AND SALES VICE PRESIDENT ALEC BURLAKOFF. >> Yeager: IT'S JUST NOT SOMETHING PEOPLE THAT THINK ABOUT. BUT THE REALITY IS THAT DOCTORS ARE LICENSED DRUG DEALERS, AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES KNOW THAT. >> Whitaker: AT THE HEART OF THE INDICTMENT WAS THE INSYS SPEAKERS' PROGRAM, AND THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE, POSTED BY ONE NEW YORK DOCTOR ON INSTAGRAM ." IT ISN'T EASY BEING ME ," HASHTAG " FRIENDS ." SALES REPS HIRED TO RECRUIT DOCTORS FOR THE SPEAKERS PROGRAM DIDN'T NEED TO BE EXPERIENCED PHARMACEUTICAL SALESMEN, LIKE ALEC BURLAKOFF, HERE IN THIS PICTURE HE GAVE US OF HIS MANAGEMENT TEAM, BUT IT DID HELP IF THEY HAD CHARM AND SEX APPEAL. >> Yeager: THEY HAD PEOPLE WHOSE PREVIOUS JOBS WERE BEING A WAITRESS AT HOOTERS, PEOPLE WHO WORKED AT STRIP CLUBS, CAMP COUNSELORS. >> Whitaker: YEAGER AND LAZARUS CALLED THE SPEAKER'S PROGRAM A SHAM. >> Yeager: THE DOCTOR WOULD JUST REPEATEDLY INVITE HER FRIENDS OR HIS FRIENDS. >> Whitaker: JUST A NIGHT OUT PAID BY INSYS. >> Yeager: RIGHT. >> David Lazarus: RACK UP A BIG BAR BILL, AND THEN GET A CHECK IN THE MAIL FOR IT. >> Whitaker: WAS IT-- WAS IT THAT BLATANT? >> Yeager: IT WAS THAT BLATANT. >> Lazarus: THE SALES STAFF WAS TAUGHT TO LOOK FOR DOCTORS WHO MIGHT BE GOING THROUGH A ROUGH TIME. >> Yeager: AND THEY WOULD LITERALLY LIST WHAT THEIR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES WERE, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THEY WOULD SAY IS, " DIVORCED ," " NEEDS MONEY ." >> Whitaker: FORMER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES, ALEC BURLAKOFF, SAYS THE TERMS OF THE BRIBE WERE CLEARLY SPELLED OUT INCREASE THE NUMBER AND DOSE OF PRESCRIPTIONS OR THE SPEAKER SPIGOT WOULD BE TURNED OFF. >> Burlakoff: " IF YOU DON'T PRODUCE A RETURN ON INVESTMENT OF AT LEAST TWO- TO- ONE VIA PRESCRIPTIONS OF SUBSYS, NOT ONLY WILL YOU DISAPPEAR FROM THE SPEAKER'S BUREAU, BUT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE WILL BE GONE AS WELL ." >> Whitaker: AND YOU FLAT- OUT TELL THE DOCTOR THIS? >> Burlakoff: YES. ONE, THE MORE YOU WRITE, THE MORE YOU'RE GOING TO EARN. THE MORE YOU INCREASE THE STRENGTH, THE MORE YOU'RE GOING TO EARN. AND, DOCTOR, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, WE WALK AWAY AS FRIENDS. NO BIG DEAL. >> Whitaker: BUT IN THE CASE AGAINST JOHN KAPOOR, THE R. O. I ., " RETURN ON INVESTMENT ," WAS A BIG DEAL. KAPOOR USED REAL- TIME DATA FROM AN F. D. A. PATIENT SAFETY PROGRAM TO TRACK THE DOCTORS THEY WERE BRIBING, PORING OVER PATIENT DOSAGES AND PRESCRIPTIONS AT THE SALES MEETING HELD EVERY MORNING, CALLING OUT HIS EXECUTIVES WHEN THEY MISSED THEIR TARGETS. HE'S LOOKING AT THE CHART, AND THEN HE SEES PERHAPS A DOCTOR IS NOT PRESCRIBING AS MUCH AS HE THINKS HE SHOULD BE. HOW WOULD HE REACT? >> Burlakoff: WELL, HE WOULD BE IRATE. WITHIN 24 HOURS, THAT REP WAS DEMANDED TO BE IN THAT DOCTOR'S OFFICE AND BASICALLY ENFORCING THAT THEY INCREASE THE DOSE. >> Whitaker: HE WAS REQUIRING YOU TO PUSH DOSES HIGHER THAN THE PATIENT ACTUALLY NEEDED? >> Burlakoff: HE MADE IT MANDATORY THAT WE LAUNCH WHAT-- WHAT HE CALLED AN " EFFECTIVE DOSE CAMPAIGN ." >> Whitaker: AND WHAT IS THAT? >> Burlakoff: THAT'S A FANCY WAY OF BASICALLY SAYING, LET'S MAKE SURE THAT THE PATIENT WILL COME BACK AND WANT MORE. OTHERS MIGHT SAY, LET'S MAKE SURE WE GET THE PATIENTS ADDICTED. >> Whitaker: YOU'RE PREYING ON THESE PEOPLE. >> Burlakoff: YEAH, BECAUSE THEY'RE DESPERATE. THEY'LL TRY ANYTHING. AND THEY MAY GET RELIEF FROM SUBSYS INITIALLY, BUT WE ALL KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. WE KNOW. WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS LONG ENOUGH. WE KNOW HOW IT ENDS. >> Whitaker: AND THAT IS? >> Burlakoff: IT ENDS IN ADDICTION, WITHDRAWAL, PAIN, SUFFERING, AND EVEN DEATH. >> Whitaker: AND YOU DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THAT? >> Burlakoff: BACK THEN, I WAS NUMB TO THAT. >> Fred M. Wyshak Jr .: I WAS FLABBERGASTED. >> Whitaker: AS THE TRIAL APPROACHED, FRED WYSHAK JOINED THE PROSECUTION TEAM TO PREPARE THE RACKETEERING CASE. HE PRESSURED ALEC BURLAKOFF TO FLIP AND TESTIFY AGAINST KAPOOR. BEST KNOWN FOR BRINGING DOWN THE BOSTON MAFIA AND CRIME BOSS WHITEY BULGER, WYSHAK THOUGHT HE HAD SEEN IT ALL, UNTIL THIS: HIS FIRST PHARMACEUTICAL CASE. AND THIS IS COMING FROM A MAN WHO'S GONE AFTER THE MOB. >> Wyshak: YEAH. (\ LAUGHS \) YEAH, I MEAN... (\ SIGHS \) THE MOB DOES HAVE, TO SOME EXTENT A CODE OF CONDUCT. AND USUALLY, THEY'RE ONLY PHYSICALLY HARMING OTHER BAD GUYS. THESE PEOPLE, THEY DIDN'T CARE. WASN'T JUST BAD GUYS WHO WERE GETTING HURT. >> Whitaker: AND WHAT WAS THE IMPACT THIS CRIMINAL ACTIVITY WAS HAVING ON THE CONSUMERS, THE PATIENTS? >> Wyshak: MOST OF THE PATIENTS WHO RECEIVED THIS DRUG WERE NON- CANCER PATIENTS TAKING SUBSYS. ESSENTIALLY OVER- MEDICATED THEM. IT RUINED THEIR LIVES. MANY OF THEM LOST THEIR JOBS, THEIR FAMILIES FELL APART. SOME WERE HALLUCINATING. THEY ALL BECAME ADDICTED. >> Lazarus: TEETH FALLING OUT, BECOMING ZOMBIE- LIKE, AS A RESULT OF BEING GIVEN A MEDICATION THIS POWERFUL, THAT YOU DON'T NEED. >> Yeager: IT WAS VERY COMPELLING TESTIMONY. SOME OF THEM WERE SHOWN INSURANCE RECORDS THAT CLAIMED THAT THEY HAD DIAGNOSES THAT THEY'VE NEVER HAD, AND REACTED TO THE FACT THAT, " I DIDN'T HAVE CANCER. I DIDN'T HAVE THAT DIAGNOSIS ." >> Whitaker: PROSECUTORS CALLED THAT INSURANCE FRAUD. INSYS C. E. O. JOHN KAPOOR SET UP A SCAM TO GET INSURANCE COMPANIES TO PAY FOR THE DRUGS HE HAD INSYS EMPLOYEES POSE AS DOCTOR'S OFFICE STAFF, TO DUPE THE INSURERS. PROSECUTORS OBTAINED RECORDINGS OF THE CALLS AND PLAYED THEM FOR THE JURY. >> WHAT MEDICATION ARE WE SPEAKING OF TODAY? >> THIS IS FOR SUBSYS. >> Lazarus: SO THEY'RE SITTING IN-- IN A WINDOWLESS ROOM IN ARIZONA, SAYING, " OH, THE WEATHER'S BEAUTIFUL HERE, IN HOUSTON, TODAY ," OR, " OH, IT'S COLD UP HERE, IN NEW YORK ." THEY WOULD OUTRIGHT LIE. THEY WOULD SAY THE PATIENT HAD CANCER, WHEN THEY DIDN'T HAVE CANCER. AND THEY KNEW. THEY KEPT TRACK, AT INSYS, OF WHAT ANSWERS WOULD WORK WITH INDIVIDUAL INSURANCE COMPANIES. >> Whitaker: INSYS EXECUTIVES PREPARED A SCRIPT FOR CALL CENTER WORKERS THAT ALMOST ASSURED THE INSURANCE COMPANIES WOULD PAY. >> AND THE PATIENT'S DIAGNOSIS? >> IT'S FOR THE BREAKTHROUGH PAIN, YES. >> MALIGNANT CANCER PAIN? >> YES, MA'AM. >> Lazarus: NINE TIMES OUT OF TEN, THAT DRUG'S GETTING APPROVED. >> Whitaker: WOW. AND-- AND-- AND THIS WORKED. >> Lazarus: IT WORKED FOR YEARS. >> Whitaker: IT HELPED MAKE INSYS SO LUCRATIVE THAT, WHEN THE COMPANY WENT PUBLIC IN 2013, IT BECAME THE NUMBER ONE I. P. O. IN THE COUNTRY, WORTH MORE THAN A BILLION DOLLARS. IN COURT, PROSECUTORS EXPOSED A CULTURE OF GREED. TO MAKE THEIR CASE, THEY PLAYED FOR THE JURY AN IN- HOUSE COMPANY VIDEO ABOUT TITRATION, A MEDICAL TECHNIQUE USED TO INCREASE A PATIENT'S DOSAGE. >> Wyshak: I THINK THE JURY WAS DISGUSTED WHEN THEY SAW THAT. I KNOW I WAS DISGUSTED. >> § INSYS THERAPEUTICS, THAT IS OUR NAME. § >> Whitaker: INSYS SALES REPS, RAPPING, BOASTING ABOUT DOCTORS UNDER THEIR CONTROL, UPPING PATIENTS' DOSAGE OF SUBSYS... >> § I LOVE TITRATION AND IT'S NOT A PROBLEM § § I GOT NEW PATIENTS AND I GOT A LOT OF ' ¡ EM. § >> Whitaker: IN COSTUME, THE 1, 600 MICROGRAMS. THIS WAS SHOWN TO A PACKED ANNUAL SALES CONVENTION IN ARIZONA IN 2015... >> Burlakoff: WHOA! >> Whitaker: ... ENDING WITH A CAMEO BY ALEC BURLAKOFF. >> Burlakoff: I LOVE TITRATION AND IT'S NOT A PROBLEM. >> Whitaker: EVERYBODY LAUGHED? >> Burlakoff: I'M SORRY TO SAY, EVERYBODY LAUGHED, YES. >> Whitaker: THE OPIOID CRISIS IS RAGING OUTSIDE THE DOORS, AND YOU'RE INSIDE JOKING ABOUT IT. >> Burlakoff: YES. WE WERE ALL, DESENSITIZED TO WHAT WAS GOING ON. >> Whitaker: ON JANUARY 23, A FEDERAL JUDGE SENTENCED ALEC BURLAKOFF TO 26 MONTHS... >> Burlakoff: I'M SORRY. VERY SORRY. >> Whitaker: ... AND ORDERED HIM TO TURN OVER THE $ 4. 3 MILLION HE HAD MADE AT THE COMPANY. A DOZEN DOCTORS WERE ALSO CONVICTED OF CRIMES IN CONNECTION WITH INSYS. THE COMPANY WENT BANKRUPT, AND C. E. O. JOHN KAPOOR IS TO REPORT TO FEDERAL PRISON IN JULY TO BEGIN SERVING HIS SENTENCE OF 5. 5 YEARS. AS FOR WYSHAK AND THE FEDERAL PROSECUTION TEAM, THIS CASE LAUNCHED A NEW, TOUGHER APPROACH TO CORPORATE CRIME. >> Wyshak: I THINK SOMETIMES WHITE- COLLAR CRIMINALS ARE MORE DANGEROUS THAN VIOLENT CRIMINALS. AND, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, THEY GET A KID GLOVE TREATMENT. AND I THINK THAT NEEDS TO STOP. (\ TICKING \) >> Whitaker: NOW, AN UPDATE ON A STORY WE CALLED " TARGETING THE TRUTH ." LAST NOVEMBER, WE REPORTED ON THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT'S CLAMPDOWN ON INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS, IN PARTICULAR, MARIA RESSA AND HER ONLINE NEWS SITE " RAPPLER ." RESSA'S STORIES, REVEALING THE EXTENT OF GOVERNMENT- SPONSORED VIOLENCE IN PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE'S BLOODY DRUG WAR, RESULTED IN WHAT SHE DESCRIBES AS A GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST HER, INCLUDING DEATH THREATS, ORGANIZED SOCIAL MEDIA ATTACKS AND SEVERAL ARRESTS. >> Maria Ressa: THE HEAD OF THAT ARRESTING GROUP TOLD OUR REPORTER " BE SILENT, OR YOU'RE NEXT ." AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING, SYSTEMATICALLY. BE SILENT, OR YOU'RE NEXT. >> Whitaker: 11 CASES HAVE BEEN FILED AGAINST YOU? >> Ressa: THEY WERE LOOKING FOR SOME WAY TO BE ABLE TO SHUT US UP, RIGHT? I THINK YOU JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT THE PATTERN. >> Whitaker: THIS PAST WEEK, A PHILIPPINE COURT FOUND MARIA RESSA GUILTY OF " CYBER LIBEL ." SHE IS FREE ON BAIL PENDING AN APPEAL. I'M BILL WHITAKER. WE'LL BE BACK NEXT WEEK WITH ANOTHER EDITION OF " 60 MINUTES ." HAPPY FATHERS DAY. (\ TICKING \) (\ TICKING \)
