Opioid makers paid millions to advocacy groups: US Senate report

Boston

FIVE opioid manufacturers including OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP have paid more than US$10 million to advocacy groups and doctors tied to them, many of whom amplified industry messages supporting the use of the painkillers, a US Senate report said on Monday.

The report, released by Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, said groups who received the donations aligned themselves with industry goals and may have played a role in an epidemic that in 2016 led to 42,000 opioid overdose deaths.