4 ms·

FYI, there is a new episode on american greed which pretty much shows how these type of operations worked. Insys basically gave the kickbacks by having the doct

FYI, there is a new episode on american greed which pretty much shows how these type of operations worked. Insys basically gave the kickbacks by having the doctors give "speeches" but it turns out no speeches were given and the doctors got the checks anyways. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2WBKkyFpRo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2WBKkyFpRo

joe_the_user 9y ago
Greed and stupidity. A regular "speech" isn't that hard to organize. It's like the leading edge of medical-pharmaceutical industry has devolved from the legal corruption of payments informally coupled to favors to the illegality of payments directly so tied out of laziness and impatience. Perhaps these folks are sampling their own wares too much.
75dvtwin 9y ago
Seems like paid speeches (and charities) are a form of bribery vehicle, not sure which English-speaking country this was first pioneered, but American politicians seem to be most active users of this method. [1] [1] https://www.salon.com/2013/07/17/the_buckraking_practices_of_hillary_clinton_and_8_other_political_heavies_partner/ https://www.salon.com/2013/07/17/the_buckraking_practices_of...
rdtsc 9y ago
> it turns out no speeches were given and the doctors got the checks anyways. True, but it's not like if they did, the situation would be that much better. In a way for them they screwed up because the actually didn't bother playing the bribery sham all the way through like say political candidates do. For example, Hillary Clinton made $3M from speeches to large banks in just 2 years: https://theintercept.com/2016/01/08/hillary-clinton-earned-more-from-12-speeches-to-big-banks-than-most-americans-earn-in-their-lifetime/ https://theintercept.com/2016/01/08/hillary-clinton-earned-m... but they were actually organized enough to have "speechs". I remember the transcript of one was leaked, and you'd think they'd be some really deep insights and strategy laid out for the future that's worth $600k. But it was mostly "you all great, thanks for creating jobs etc etc". It is legal of course, but everyone know what it really is.
- ggg9990 9y ago
  It’s not clear what it really is. People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hollywood celebrities for appearances too, with no expectations of political favors.
  - vostok 9y ago
    If I was organizing a speech and had a budget of a few hundred thousand then Hillary Clinton would be near the top of my list.
  - xor1 9y ago
    Are those appearances private?
    - disillusioned 9y ago
      I mean, I'm in EO and our chapter spends about $150k/year on appearances from popular speakers. We're not buying influence or lobbying, and they're private appearances, yes. They're on a variety of topics from a variety of people that the organization thinks we'll find valuable, and the market has set a pretty steep price for some of the better speakers. /shrug
      - ggg9990 9y ago
        What is EO?
        sarabande 9y ago
        Entrepreneurs' Organization (https://www.eonetwork.org/ https://www.eonetwork.org/).
  - kamaal 9y ago
    Attaching big names to your cause gives it a lot of legitimacy(at-least the perception is that way), May be that is why.
- 9y ago

joe_the_user 9y ago

Greed and stupidity. A regular "speech" isn't that hard to organize. It's like the leading edge of medical-pharmaceutical industry has devolved from the legal corruption of payments informally coupled to favors to the illegality of payments directly so tied out of laziness and impatience. Perhaps these folks are sampling their own wares too much.

75dvtwin 9y ago

Seems like paid speeches (and charities) are a form of bribery vehicle, not sure which English-speaking country this was first pioneered, but American politicians seem to be most active users of this method. [1] [1] https://www.salon.com/2013/07/17/the_buckraking_practices_of_hillary_clinton_and_8_other_political_heavies_partner/ https://www.salon.com/2013/07/17/the_buckraking_practices_of...

rdtsc 9y ago

> it turns out no speeches were given and the doctors got the checks anyways. True, but it's not like if they did, the situation would be that much better. In a way for them they screwed up because the actually didn't bother playing the bribery sham all the way through like say political candidates do. For example, Hillary Clinton made $3M from speeches to large banks in just 2 years: https://theintercept.com/2016/01/08/hillary-clinton-earned-more-from-12-speeches-to-big-banks-than-most-americans-earn-in-their-lifetime/ https://theintercept.com/2016/01/08/hillary-clinton-earned-m... but they were actually organized enough to have "speechs". I remember the transcript of one was leaked, and you'd think they'd be some really deep insights and strategy laid out for the future that's worth $600k. But it was mostly "you all great, thanks for creating jobs etc etc". It is legal of course, but everyone know what it really is.

ggg9990 9y ago
It’s not clear what it really is. People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hollywood celebrities for appearances too, with no expectations of political favors.
- vostok 9y ago
  If I was organizing a speech and had a budget of a few hundred thousand then Hillary Clinton would be near the top of my list.
- xor1 9y ago
  Are those appearances private?
  - disillusioned 9y ago
    I mean, I'm in EO and our chapter spends about $150k/year on appearances from popular speakers. We're not buying influence or lobbying, and they're private appearances, yes. They're on a variety of topics from a variety of people that the organization thinks we'll find valuable, and the market has set a pretty steep price for some of the better speakers. /shrug
    - ggg9990 9y ago
      What is EO?
      - sarabande 9y ago
        Entrepreneurs' Organization (https://www.eonetwork.org/ https://www.eonetwork.org/).
- kamaal 9y ago
  Attaching big names to your cause gives it a lot of legitimacy(at-least the perception is that way), May be that is why.
9y ago