WHO retracts opioid guidelines following pharma influence controversy
A US congressional report labelled the two sets of advice 'marketing materials' for opioid makers
20th January 2020
The WHO has retracted its two main guidelines on the use of opioids in the wake of accusations they repeated drug company marketing slogans.
Last year, a US congressional report accused US drug company Purdue Pharma and its UK-based sister company Mundipharma International of funding organisations and specialists to influence the writing of WHO policy to encourage wider prescribing of high-strength opioids around the world.
The report called Corrupting Influence described the two WHO guidance documents as “marketing materials