Greater Boston takes a look back at the major stories of the year. In this segment: This year saw the first criminal convictions for pharmaceutical executives who marketed opioids beyond their proper medical use. Guilty charges were handed out in a Boston federal courthouse in May to five former pharmaceutical executives from Insys Therapeutics for their roles in funneling millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to doctors to get them to prescribe more of their drug. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey also took the step this year of naming the Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, in a lawsuit she has filed over opioid deaths, arguing the company’s deceptive marketing helped create the public health crisis.
Jim Braude was joined by Jennifer Braceras, a conservative guest columnist for The Boston Globe and director of the Independent Women’s Law Center, Shannon O’Brien, former state treasurer and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate, and Tina Opie, associate professor, Babson College.
