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drokhole

(1,230 posts)
Thu May 10, 2012, 11:03 AM May 2012

U.S. Senate panel launches investigation of painkillers, drug companies

U.S. Senate panel launches investigation of painkillers, drug companies
by John Fauber of the Journal Sentinel

The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance has opened a bipartisan investigation into financial relationships between companies that make narcotic painkillers and various nonprofit organizations that have advocated their use for the treatment of pain.

Citing reports by the Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today and others, the committee is seeking financial and marketing records from three companies that make opioid drugs, including OxyContin and Vicodin, and seven national organizations.

(snip)

The senators said there was growing evidence that drug companies have promoted misleading information about the safety and effectiveness of the drugs with help from nonprofits they have donated to.

"Recent investigative reporting from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today and ProPublica revealed extensive ties between companies that manufacture and market opioids and nonprofit organizations such as the American Pain Foundation, the American Pain Society, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the Federation of State Medical Boards, the University of Wisconsin Pain and Policy Studies Group and the Joint Commission," Grassley and Baucus wrote.

(snip)

The newspaper reported that the nonprofits pushed for expanded use of the drugs while taking in millions of dollars from the companies that made them.

(more at the link: http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/us-senate-panel-launches-investigation-of-painkillers-drug-companies-4u5arr1-150767225.html)
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U.S. Senate panel launches investigation of painkillers, drug companies (Original Post) drokhole May 2012 OP
This needs to be looked into but I'm afraid for the people who are in constant pain Lint Head May 2012 #1
What? People are telling other people their pain should be treated with pain medicine? kickysnana May 2012 #2

Lint Head

(15,064 posts)
1. This needs to be looked into but I'm afraid for the people who are in constant pain
Thu May 10, 2012, 11:16 AM
May 2012

that some of these drugs help. The government tends to be draconian when dealing with things like this.

kickysnana

(3,908 posts)
2. What? People are telling other people their pain should be treated with pain medicine?
Thu May 10, 2012, 03:55 PM
May 2012

How bizarre. We cannot have that in an election year.

The clown cars still pull up at Congress and people from both parties spill out. God help us all.

However we can have a program that has law enforcement passing out illegal drugs to people and then dropping them off near the Occupy movements across the country.

PD program in Minnesota that gave drugs to people & dropped them at Occupy is in 48 states.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002669396

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