Senator Launches Probe Into Opioid Manufacturers' Practices
- McCaskill says companies fostered addiction via sales efforts
- Shares of Depomed, Insys decline after letters are released
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A Democratic senator has launched an investigation into how five drugmakers promoted prescription pain pills whose abuse has become epidemic in the U.S. and led to thousands of overdoses and deaths a year.
Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, on Tuesday wrote the chief executive officers of Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma Inc., Mylan NV, Insys Therapeutics Inc., and Depomed Inc., demanding documents and information related to the sales, marketing and education strategies the companies used to promote opioid painkillers. The selected companies are the top five prescription opioid manufacturers in the U.S., she said.