Shows
Anti-SocialState of the Village: Has the Big Dig gone bust? With Thom Mozloom.YEARS OF PLANNING was thrown into turmoil this week when the mayor of Key Biscayne reversed position on the Big Dig, aimed at protecting the Miami barrier island from sea level rise. Joe Rasco ran for office on resiliency projects, but his announcement endorsing a pause came in response to public concern about rising costs. Our guest is Thom Mozloom, a marketing and branding expert, joined with senior correspondent John Pacenti. We discuss how the project ran into opposition, and where the Village goes next.In our second segment, the panel discusses the rapid moves b...2025-02-0649 min
Anti-SocialFIU Professor Eric Lob on the hard truths of the Israeli conflictWith the horror of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas and the subsequent air strikes on the Gaza Strip, we asked Middle East expert Eric Lob to break down the complex issues that led to the massacre and the perils of the conflict for the United States. Lob is an associate professor at Florida International University in the Department of Politics and International Relations. His research focuses on the intersection of development and politics in the Middle East and on political violence and revolution.Later in the show, Melissa White of...2023-10-1240 min
Anti-SocialVision Plan Redux: Luis de la CruzAFTER YEARS, a plan meant to meet future challenges for Miami's "Island Paradise" had a raucous final public meeting before coming to a vote. Critics have organized against it, claiming it will promote density. Village leaders pushed back as they defended the lengthy document. Our guest is former Council Member Luis de la Cruz, a member of the panel who talks about the document's goals -- and the criticism. Joining Tony to host this week is John Pacenti, the Key Biscayne Independent's new executive editor for a review of his reporting...2023-04-2043 min
Anti-SocialCourt Crisis: Miami's Top Prosecutor Katherine Fernandez RundleMajor criminal cases are daily work in America's fourth-biggest prosecutor's office, but Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle says pay is so low, she lost 100 lawyers in the past year. She's pleading with the Florida Legislature to fund law enforcement offices so criminal cases can go forward as pandemic backlogs are straining resources,We also talk to her about bills to tighten penalties for mismanaged condo and homeowner associations in the wake of Surfside and other scandals. Next, we introduce new Key Biscayne Independent Executive Editor John Pacenti and ask him about his ne...2023-03-1947 min
Cover 2 ResourcesEp. 270 - Insys Therapeutic Execs Sentenced: Will Doctors Be Next?In February of 2019, we interviewed Palm Beach Post reporters Pat Beall and John Pacenti, about the trial of former executives from opioid manufacturer Insys Therapeutics. They’d been accused of racketeering, bribing doctors to prescribe their high-powered opioid fentanyl spray, Subsys, to patients who didn’t need it.
A year later, the Insys executives have finally received sentences of 1 to 5 ½ years in prison. This is the first time big pharma execs have been convicted and sent to prison for racketeering. It’s arguable whether this sentence achieves justice for the 900-plus lives lost to opioid addiction that began with Subsys prescrip...2020-01-2400 min
Cover 2 ResourcesEp. 228 - Pharma. Company Exposed in Boston: A Conversation with Palm Beach Post Reporters Pt. 2We frame today’s podcast with Palm Beach Post reporters, John Pacenti and Pat Beall with a clip from the Insys Therapeutics rap video on the virtues of persuading doctors to prescribe higher doses of the company’s liquid opioid, Subsys. This week jurors in the Insys racketeering case in Boston heard the following lyrics from the company’s self-produced video; “I love titration. Yeah, it’s not a problem. I got new patients and I got a lot of ‘em”. That may be the most damning evidence against former executives of the company yet.
In this second part of our series, we...2019-02-1500 minCover 2 ResourcesEp. 227 - Landmark Racketeering Case Against Insys Therapeutics Brings Up A Familiar StoryBack in January, the pharmaceutical trial of Insys Therapeutics and company founder, John Kapoor faced charges of racketeering. Allegedly, he and six former sales directors operated a scheme which paid bribes to physicians to prescribe the fentanyl spray SUBSYS, a high-powered opioid pain medication. Between 2012-2016, approximately 908 people overdosed and died due as a result of SUBSYS.
Unfortunately, this tale is all too familiar for some. Back in 2007, Perdue Pharma pled guilty to these same sales practices and yet, little has been done to prevent future cases. Many companies, such as Insys Therapeutics are using this same questionable marketing today...2019-02-1200 min