Review of new opioid guidelines finds conflict of interest had no affect
OTTAWA — The Canadian Institutes for Health Research has concluded new national guidelines for prescribing opioids were based on sound scientific evidence, despite a conflict of interest between one of the doctors who created them and pharmaceutical companies that make the addictive drugs.
The new guidelines were officially published in May to replace an outdated 2010 version as Canada grapples with the second-highest opioid prescription rate in the world and an opioid-related epidemic that killed nearly 2,500 people last year.
After the publication it was revealed one of the 15 doctors who voted on the guidelines had been paid to do speaking engagements by at least one pharmaceutical company which produces opioid medications, despite the fact the guideline steering committee had pledged there would be no such conflicts.
Former health minister Jane Philpott asked the Canadian Institutes for Health Research to review how the guidelines were developed to ensure the conflict hadn’t affected the results.