Drugs

Opioid Makers Fund Advocacy Groups: Senate Report

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, has released a report alleging the opioid manufacturers have made millions of dollars in payments to advocacy organizations and affiliated individuals that have advocated for broad use of opioids in pain management. “The pharmaceutical industry spent a generation downplaying the risks of opioid addiction and trying to expand their customer base for these incredibly dangerous medications, and the report makes clear they made investments in third-party organizations that could further these goals,” she says. “These financial relationships were insidious, lacked transparency, and are one of many factors that have resulted in arguably the most deadly drug epidemic in American history.”

Key report findings include:

contributions from five leading opioid manufacturers (Purdue, Janssen, Mylan, Depomed, and Insys) of nearly $9 million to 14 third-party advocacy organizations over a five-year period;
additional payments of $1.6 million from the five companies to doctors affiliated with the groups between 2013 and the present;
several of the groups profiled received the majority of their outside contributions and grants for certain years between 2012 and 2017 from opioid manufacturers;
initiatives from the groups named in the report often echoed and amplified messages favorable to increased opioid use and, ultimately, the financial interests of opioid manufacturers.

“The financial relationships between these groups and opioid manufacturers should be clear to the general public,” McCaskill says. “We passed a law ensuring the public had information on payments to doctors by pharmaceutical companies, and I can’t imagine why the same shouldn’t be done in this space.”

Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton’s responses on vaccines, contraception and abortion medication during her 9/24 Senate confirmation hearing raise concerns that ideology could influence her decision-making if she takes over the agency, MSNBC senior medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta said Friday. Gupta was particularly critical of Overton’

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton emerged from her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday (see earlier story) without resolving questions about whether she has enough Republican support to advance — and with a rapidly narrowing window for confirmation before the midterm elections. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing provided few

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

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FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome

FDA has approved Roche’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for reducing the risk of relapse in adults and children aged 2 and older with frequently relapsing or steroid-dependent, childhood-onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who are in remission. The expanded approval covers the use of the CD20-directed antibody beyond its existing

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Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome