Senators Probing Ties between Opioid Makers, Advocacy Groups

A U.S. Senate committee has launched an investigation to determine whether pharmaceutical companies have encouraged medical groups and physicians to advocate for the increased use of opioids.U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Senior Committee Member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent letters on May 7 to Purdue Pharma, Endo Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson requesting financial information about the companies' ties to medical groups and physicians. The senators also sent letters to the American Pain Foundation, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the Americ...