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Medical professionals are far from immune to opioid misuse. In fact, due to their easy access to pain medication and the high stress levels that come with treating patients, they may be especially susceptible. But for many clinicians, overcoming an opioid dependence can be even more challenging than for those in the general population. (Eisner, 2/19)

Spiro Y. Kassis, 66, was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison after pleading guilty to illegally distributing controlled substances, including the opiate painkiller oxycodone. Separately, Kassis agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit and agreed to never again obtain a license for prescribing opioid medication. (Vella, 2/19)

The founder of a biotech who said his company had developed a painkiller that would replace morphine was sentenced to seven years in prison Tuesday for defrauding investors of $7.5 million. Frank Reynolds, the founder of PixarBio in Medford, Mass., and a former fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management, held up a bottle of NeuroRelease in court and insisted that his never-approved drug still had value. (Stalzman, 2/19)