Former Insys CEO pleads guilty in kickback scheme

The former chief executive of Insys Therapeutics is now a government witness.

Michael Babich, who resigned as the drug maker’s CEO in 2015, agreed to testify on behalf of federal prosecutors after pleading guilty yesterday to conspiracy and mail fraud charges, Reuters reports. Babich is among the former Insys executives who were accused of taking part in a nationwide conspiracy to bribe doctors to unnecessarily prescribe Subsys, a fentanyl-based painkiller.

Babich faced up to 25 years in prison but could receive a more lenient sentence if he continues to cooperate as a witness. Prosecutors now turn their attention to the case of Insys founder and former chairman John Kapoor, who is scheduled to face trial in the coming weeks.