2024-02-02 05:48:13
A subsidiary of French advertising giant Publicis will pay US$350 million to the United States for its role in the country’s opioid crisis, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives since 1999, the prosecutor announced on Thursday. New York State.
It is the first advertising agency to reach an agreement with the courts for its role in the opioid crisis, Letitia James’ office said in a press release.
California is to receive the largest amount ($34 million), ahead of Florida ($24.10 million) and Texas ($21.59 million). New York State is due to get almost 19 million.
For a decade, Publicis helped opioid manufacturers like Purdue Pharma convince doctors to overprescribe opioids, directly fueling the opioid crisis and causing extinctions across the country.
noted Letitia James, quoted in the press release.
She believes that Publicis has developed predatory and deceptive marketing strategies for Purdue Pharma to increase opioid prescriptions and sales
.
According to her, the advertising agency created flyers describing OxyContin as a treatment safe and incapable of causing misuse
.
OxyContin, trigger of the opioid crisis
Purdue produces the pain medication OxyContin, the overprescription of which is widely considered to have triggered the opioid crisis in the United States.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 700,000 people died between 1999 and 2022 from an overdose linked to taking opiates, obtained by prescription or illegally.
Publicis Health subsequently indicated, in a press release, that the activities concerned had been carried out by the Rosetta agency, purchased in 2011 and closed 10 years ago.
million euros”,”text”:”This settlement agreement allows us to close three years of discussion, and concludes with a net payment of 148 million euros”}}”>This settlement agreement allows us to close three years of discussion, and concludes with a net payment of 148 million euros
she added, affirming that it did not represent an admission of fault or responsibility.
We will defend ourselves, if necessary, against any dispute that this agreement fails to resolve.
assured Publicis Health.
The agency also claimed that the work done by Rosetta on behalf of pharmaceutical companies and covered by this regulation has always been fully compliant with the law
.
Bankruptcy of Purdue laboratory
Targeted by an avalanche of lawsuits, the Purdue laboratory declared bankruptcy in 2019 and has since negotiated a plan, the latest version of which provides for its closure by 2024 in the United States for the benefit of a new entity and the payment of at least $5.5 billion over 18 years.
The US Supreme Court was asked to approve or annul the compensation agreement. A hearing was held in December 2023.
The consulting firm McKinsey agreed in 2021 to pay $573 million to settle legal proceedings launched against it for contributing to the opioid crisis.
Large drug distributors like CVS, Walgreens and Walmart have also been sued.
$2.7 billion in damages
The prosecutor’s office says it has recovered more than $2.7 billion from prosecutions since 2019.
He also announced a second agreement on Thursday: the Hikma Pharmaceuticals laboratory, headquartered in the United Kingdom, will pay $150 million to several American states for its role in the opioid crisis.
Between 2006 and 2021, Hikma failed to monitor or report suspicious orders for opiates from possibly illegal distributors
explained the prosecutor’s office in a press release.
The group specified in its own press release that this agreement in principle resolved the vast majority of prosecutions
launched against him in the United States, and that it did not represent an admission of guilt or responsibility.
1706897192
#United #States #Publicis #pay #million #role #opioid #crisis