Stripper turned pharma exec gave doctor a lap dance to get him to prescribe drugs, officials say

Physician Paul Madison is suspected of taking more than $70,000 in bribes from a drug company to churn out prescriptions for its highly addictive fentanyl spray. But on Tuesday, prosecutors wanted jurors to focus more on what, exactly, the pain management specialist was doing at “Chicago’s sexiest nightclub” with an exotic dancer turned pharmaceutical executive named Sunrise wriggling on his lap.

Prosecutors highlighted the boozy outing Tuesday during the ongoing trial of Insys Pharmaceutical executives, who are accused of using kickbacks and dodgy tactics to get doctors to increase prescriptions of Subsys, their fentanyl spray that can be 100 times more potent than morphine. read more »

Why Facebook's Banned 'Research' App Was So Invasive

For the past three years, Facebook has paid consumers as young as 13 to download a “Facebook Research” application that gives the company wide-ranging access to their mobile devices, according to a TechCrunch investigation published Tuesday. In order to allow people with iPhones to participate, Facebook sidestepped the strict privacy rules imposed by Apple in its App Store by taking advantage of a business applications program designed for internal company use. Apple soon announced it was revoking Facebook’s access to its Developer Enterprise Program, which also allowed the company to share custom iOS apps with its own employees. Apple’s decision is reportedly wreaking havoc at the social network, rendering workers unable to access the apps they use for their jobs.

As Facebook deals with the fallout from yet another privacy scandal, it’s worth unpacking how its Research app worked—especially because it serves as a good reminder for other apps you might already be using, particularly virtual private networks. It wasn’t just Facebook: Google also disabled a similar app on iOS devices on Wednesday. Both apps are still available on Android. read more »

Watchdog fight erupts in Danske Bank scandal blame game

Danish and Estonian financial regulators are blaming each other for the Danske Bank money laundering scandal, which has highlighted the need for better cross-border surveillance.

Denmark’s largest lender is being investigated in Denmark, Estonia, Britain and the United States over 200 billion euros ($229 billion) of suspicious payments through its Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015.

The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA) this week prompted a sharp rebuke from its Estonian counterpart when it said it had met its obligations. read more »

Inside the Takedown That Put Carlos Ghosn in Jail

He never saw it coming.

Aboard a Gulfstream G650 with the registration number N155AN, was Carlos Ghosn, the charismatic executive who’d engineered the Renault-Nissan alliance and now served as chairman of both companies. He’d be landing at Haneda airport in less than six hours, prepared for a busy week: a board meeting, discussions with important Japanese officials, then a trip to China.

When the plane touched down, at about 3:30 p.m. that Monday, Nov. 19, Ghosn prepared to hand over his passport for inspection, a procedure performed hundreds of times since he’d arrived at Nissan in 1999. This time, though, a group of black-suited prosecutors filed up the jet’s stairs to tell Ghosn he was being arrested for violating Japanese financial law. Furious and confused, he refused at first to surrender, according to two people familiar with the events, demanding to know the charges and the evidence behind them. A lengthy argument followed, but it eventually became clear the men weren’t making a request. More than an hour after they boarded, Ghosn agreed to go. read more »

Pathology Laboratory Agrees to Pay $63.5 Million for Providing Illegal Inducements to Referring Physicians

Pathology laboratory company Inform Diagnostics has agreed to pay $63.5 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by engaging in improper financial relationships with referring physicians, the Justice Department announced today.

The allegations stem from three lawsuits that were filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private citizens to bring suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in any recovery. read more »