Originally Syndicated on June 8, 2023 @ 8:33 am
The state Attorney General’s Office alleged that Kieran Slevin MD, a physician in Hainesport, took bogus speaking fees in exchange for fraudulently prescribing a strong drug.
Kieran Slevin, MD, prescribed Subsys in huge doses, a highly addictive opioid often used to treat cancer pain. According to a statement, the Attorney General’s office was cited.
The report claims that growing volumes of off-label drugs were given to persons who did not have cancer.
What Did Kieran Slevin MD Exactly Do? – Case Summary
In this particular instance, Kieran Slevin MD used improper benefits from the renowned and now-defunct pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics, Inc. (“Insys”) to sway his treatment and prescription choices.
As the patient’s “meal ticket,” Kieran Slevin prescribed Subsys, an extremely addictive instant-release form of fentanyl that is fifty times more potent than heroin, in ever-increasing amounts and dosages without regard to the medical necessity of such recommendation, in return for opulent dinners that were passed off as “lectures,” all-expenses-paid trips for “training,” and more than $83,000 in cash payments.
What is Subsys?
The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has granted a license to Subsys, a member of the distinct class of drugs known as transmucosal instant release fentanyl (“TIRF”), solely for the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain in patients who have grown tolerant to 24-hour opioid therapy. Because of the FDA’s strong worries about Subsys, a special program for prescribers called Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) was developed. As a requirement of his participation in the REMS study, Kieran Slevin, MD, constantly stated that Subsys was only approved for treatment in patients who were experiencing breakthrough cancer pain.
The illicit scheme Jesys devised
As has been detailed in numerous state and federal civil actions and investigations, including a current civil action by the Attorney General in New Jersey Superior Court, Middlesex County, Jesys devised a subversive and illegal plan to increase the number of prescriptions for Subsys and, consequently, the company’s profits by marketing the drug for uses other than the one, specific indication for which Insys sought and received FDA approval despite the risks its off-label use posed to patients.
More Details:
- authorized its sales team to persuade physicians like Kieran Slevin MD to prescribe Subsys to more patients and at higher dosages to treat chronic discomfort of any kind;
- Kieran Slevin MD was one of the corrupted doctors who wrote Subsys prescriptions. He was paid false speaking and consulting fees, expensive lunches, and trips to resorts for “training” sessions in order to influence the doctors to write more Subsys prescriptions.
Kieran Slevin MD Engaged in Unlawful Behavior
The unfair benefits provided by Insys were deliberately accepted by Kieran Slevin, MD. Along with the advantages that Insys brought him over time, he raised the quantity of Subsys prescriptions that he wrote.
According to Counts, Kieran Slevin MDt advised patients who were on stable pain management regimens and did not have cancer or experience breakthrough cancer pain to transition to Subsys.
In addition, after starting his patients on Subsys, he gradually increased the advised dosage level without thinking about the patient’s safety, which increased Insys’ profits because larger doses are more expensive. When patients are switched to Subsys or their dosages are increased, the medical records very rarely, if ever, provide any medical support. His reckless Subsys use put his patients at risk for addiction, overdose, and possibly death.
Slevin allegedly accepted payments from the drug’s manufacturer, Insys Therapeutics Inc., totaling more than $83,000 between 2012 and 2016, according to an allegation brought by the Attorney General’s Office.
The payments included pricey lunches masquerading as “lectures,” all-expenses-paid trips for “training,” and payments “thinly masked as speaker’s fees,” according to the Advocate General’s Office.
The study states that Slevin’s speaking engagements “were held at high-end restaurants picked by him and were sparsely attended, frequently by repeat attendees, including those who were lacking in any prescription responsibility.”
In this case, it was said that after prescribing Subsys to patients, Slevin “steadily, but without regard for patient safety, increased the dosage strength, resulting in more money for Insys.”
The investigation stated that Slevin’s records “provide little or no medical justification, and frequently no explanation at all, as to why patients were transferred to Subsys or the amounts taken were increased.
The Allegations Against Kieran Slevin MD:
- Committing fraud, lying, or making false representations.
- Persistent carelessness is extreme negligence that endangers the welfare, health, safety, or property of another person.
- Misbehavior on the job or at the office.
- Refusal to comply with a law or rule that the Board is applying.
- Receiving compensation, whether direct or indirect, for the usage or marketing of a certain product that a sane person would recognize as being offered in appreciation for a licensee’s acts, particularly the prescription of Subsys.
- creating an inaccurate patient record.
- failure to follow several rules regarding the prescription of controlled substances.
- Inability to uphold the norms of morality required for a medical license results from failure to provide an appropriate history, conduct a physical examination, make a diagnosis, and develop a treatment plan before writing a prescription for dangerous, illegal medications.
About Kieran Slevin MD:
Anesthesiologist Kieran Slevin MD, practices in Hainesport, New Jersey. He works with several organizations in the area, including Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center and Jefferson Health-Jefferson Torresdale Hospital. He received his medical training at the University College of Dublin National Univ SOM and has been in practice for more than 20 years.
He claims to have experience in the establishment of clinical decision support for outpatient percutaneous spine and pain management algorithms as well as the management of interventional spine and pain use.
Additionally, he asserts that he is an expert in the domains of interventional spine and pain, interdisciplinary group practices, hospital outpatient settings, and turnaround management skills that were established in a competitive market and challenging payment system.
Conclusion
The health of his patients has not come before his own interests because of all the aforementioned reasons, which are further explained above. Kieran Slevin MD’s inability to follow the exacting standards demanded of professionals with a license to do so could result in the removal or suspension of his right to continue practicing medicine and surgery in the state of New Jersey.
