Anti-addiction groups seek release of Senate probe into painkiller makers and non-profits

Anti-addiction activists are calling on a Senate committee to release findings from a three-year-old investigation into links between painkiller manufacturers and nonprofit medical groups.

In a letter Wednesday, a coalition of groups asks the Senate Finance Committee to make public the findings of the probe, which was launched in May 2012. At the time, former Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent letters to three drug manufacturers asking about their financial ties to seven medical groups. The drugmakers were Purdue Pharma, Endo Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson.

The Senate has not publicly released any documents or findings from the investigation.

Calls to Senate Finance staffers on Wednesday indicated there are no plans to release documents from the investigation any time soon.