Purdue cemented ties with universities and hospitals to expand opioid sales, documents contend

In the early 2000s, when Dr. Jane Ballantyne was director of the Pain Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, the opioid-pill maker Purdue Pharma struck a deal with the Boston hospital to start a pain program there.

To Ballantyne, it seemed like a boon. Two organizations — one academic, one a drug company — with the shared goal of easing patients’ pain coming together to collaborate. Working with Purdue, she said then, “will assist us in finding ways to clear up misconceptions and misunderstandings about pain and provide caregivers with the knowledge and resources they need to help patients.”

In 2003, however, Ballantyne co-authored a that raised concerns about the safety and effectiveness of opioid painkillers for patients with chronic pain. It was a direct threat to how Purdue had been marketing its drugs, but Ballantyne didn’t think of it that way.