Sen. Wyden to HHS: Upcoming FDA Opioid Meeting Full of Conflicts of Interest
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is requesting that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) delay a workshop on opioids because of the financial conflicts between opioid manufacturers and those participating in the event, according to a letter sent Friday to HHS Secretary Tom Price.
The workshop, set for Tuesday and Wednesday, is intended to obtain input on the issues and challenges associated with federal efforts to support training on pain management and the safe prescribing, dispensing and patient use of opioids.
"Unfortunately, the apparent financial relationships between opioid manufacturers and pain advocacy groups participating in the workshop raise serious conflict-of-interest concerns that could undercut efforts to curb over-prescribing," Wyden wrote.
He also pointed to the following participating groups that have ties to opioid manufacturers: the American Academy of Integrative Pain Management, the American Chronic Pain Association, the American Pain Society, the National Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Foundation, the Pain Action Alliance to Implement a National Strategy and Project Lazarus.
"The long-standing and ongoing financial relationships between opioid manufacturers and participants in the upcoming workshop warrant your intervention to investigate and minimize potential conflicts of interest when addressing a matter literally of life and death," Wyden told Price.