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. The new guidelines advise doctors they should not prescribe powerful opioid narcotics as a first-line of treatment for patients with chronic pain that is not cancer-related. 'We are pleased that CIHR found the guideline to be scientifically rigorous and that the conflict of interest by one individual on our voting panel did not impact the guidelines recommendations.' That threshold was included when McMaster applied in 2015 for funding from Health Canada to update the guidelines. The CIHR review says inappropriate prescribing practices is one of the factors behind Canada's growing opioid epidemic.

Source: CBC News September 07, 2017 20:37 UTC