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.

The report released by Ms McCaskill, the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's ranking Democrat, said the groups issued guidance promoting opioids for chronic pain and lobbied against laws to curb their use…