UN Health Agency to Remove Controversial Opioid Guidelines

By CLAIRE GALOFARO Associated Press The World Health Organization notified U.S. lawmakers last Wednesday that it will discontinue two publications on prescribing opioid painkillers in response to allegations that the pharmaceutical industry influenced the reports. The pledge to remove the guidelines comes a month after U.S. Reps. Katherine Clark and Hal Rogers accused the WHO of being influenced by Purdue Pharma, the American manufacturer of the potent painkiller OxyContin. The lawmakers' report claimed the guidelines, crafted in part by organizations with financial ties to the company, downplay the risk of opioids despite the American epidemic that has killed more than 390,000 since 1999. WHO's reports are viewed around the world as best practices in public health policy, and the opioid prescribing documents have been in circulation for years. "That is a very dangerous situation," Clark said. "We do not want to see the opioid crisis in this country exported around the globe." The WHO, the health arm of the United Nations, could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening. Purdue has denied the allegations, and said it transparently discloses its relationships with doctors and organizations and markets its drugs only as they have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company is facing some 2,000 lawsuits in the United States alleging the company's aggressive marketing helped spark the addiction crisis by minimizing the risk of addict...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: News Patient Care AP News Tag Source Type: news