Christopher Porrino |

New Jersey on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics Inc., alleging the company engaged in a “greed-driven” campaign of consumer fraud and false claims to health insurance carriers to increase its sales for Subsys, a fentanyl-based opioid used to treat cancer-related pain.

The Division of Consumer Affairs, a branch of the state Division of Law and Public Safety, filed the lawsuit against the Chandler, Arizona-based company in Middlesex County Superior Court.

The four-count complaint charges that, despite Subsys only having Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the “narrow” purpose of treating breakthrough cancer pain in opioid-tolerant patients, Insys unlawfully directed its sales force to push Subsys for prescription to a broader patient population—patients suffering any type of chronic pain—and at higher doses, according to a statement released by Attorney General Christopher Porrino.