Opioid Manufacturers Paid Millions of Dollars to Groups that Lobbied for Increased Opioid Usage
Source: Newsweek
Major opioid manufacturers paid millions of dollars to groups that lobbied for increased opioid usage in the last five years, a Senate investigation claimed on Monday.
The investigation explored the financial ties between major opioid manufacturers and advocacy groups working in opioid policy. It found that many of the advocacy groups may have "played a significant role" in the U.S. opioid epidemic. Between 2012 and 2017, five companies that produce top opioid products—Purdue, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Mylan, Insys Therapeutics and Depomed—together paid $8.8 million to 14 organizations that, according to the report, promoted opioid prescription, attempted to downplay the risk of addiction to opioids and lobbied against restrictions on overprescription.
“Many of these opioid manufacturers engaged in a long, systemic campaign to increase prescriptions and profits at the expense of the American public,” Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who spearheaded the investigation, told Newsweek. “It’s appalling that some companies deliberately misled patients and doctors, helping to fuel the epidemic we have today.”
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For the Senate investigation, McCaskill requested information from the companies on their payments to 14 advocacy groups—including the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the U.S. Pain Foundation, the American Pain Society and the Academy of Integrative Pain Management, the four that received the most contributions—as well as the sales and marketing strategies the organizations used to promote opioid use.
Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/senate-investigation-opioid-manufacturers-paid-lobby-803850
Kudos to Claire McCaskill.
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