As Canada’s opioid addiction epidemic took root, students at one of the country’s most prestigious medical schools were receiving “potentially dangerous information” about the use of these drugs, a new study claims.

Published on Tuesday in the Journal of Medical Ethics, the study takes issue with a lecture series that was part of the regular curriculum for second-year medical students at the University of Toronto from 2004 to 2010.

The lectures were supported by the pharmaceutical companies that market opioids in Canada, the guest lecturer was a member of the speakers’ bureau of the pharmaceutical companies and a free reference book, published by one of the drug firms, was distributed free.

But these conflicts of interest were not fully disclosed to students, according to study author Dr. Navindra Persaud, a staff physician at St. Michael’s Hospital who attended the lectures as a student in 2004.

“Medical students were provided with information that could have harmed patients — that could still be harming patients,” Persaud told the Star. “This shouldn’t have happened and it should never happen again.”

While the study does not name the medical school where the lectures were held, Persaud confirmed in an interview that it was U of T.

David McKnight, associate dean of equity and professionalism at U of T’s faculty of medicine, said the school moved swiftly to make changes after Persaud, who is a lecturer at U of T, first shared his concerns.

“We’re glad he brought it up, because it was a potential conflict of interest,” McKnight said.

In addition to altering the lecture series and stopping the distribution of the reference book, the school has implemented new guidelines to safeguard against similar issues in the future.

“The situation that he describes in his article is a historical one,” McKnight said. “We’ve moved on.”

Pharmaceutical companies contributed $117,000 to the development of the education sessions between 2002 and 2006, according to the study.

Although Persaud praised U of T for altering its curriculum, he said the school has a responsibility to notify previous students.

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McKnight, however, said that second-year medical students receive many years of subsequent training before prescribing drugs.

“There’s no demonstrated harm from this curriculum,” he said.