An advertising agency that helped develop marketing campaigns for OxyContin and other prescription painkillers and a drugmaker announced separate settlements Thursday worth a total of $500 million to avoid a lawsuit over claims they bear some liability to the nation opioid crisis.
Publicis Health, part of Paris-based media conglomerate Publicis Groupe, has agreed to pay $350 million, some of which will flow to each state over the next two months and most of which will be used to fight the overdose epidemic.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay $115 million in cash and provide $35 million worth of an overdose drug to state, local and Indian tribal governments.
Publicis is the first advertising company to reach a major settlement on the cost of opioids in the US. She faced a lawsuit in Massachusetts, but settled with most states before they filed lawsuits against her.
The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the negotiations with the company, said Publicis worked with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma from 2010-2019, helping campaigns for OxyContin and other prescription opioids, Butrans and Hysingla .
James’ office said the materials enhanced the abuse-deterrent properties of OxyContin and encouraged patients to increase their doses. While the formulation makes it harder for users to break down the drug to get high faster, it doesn’t make the pills any less addictive.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the company provided doctors with digital recorders so Publicis and Purdue could analyze conversations doctors had with patients about taking opioids.
As part of the settlement, Publicis agreed to release internal documents detailing its work for Purdue and other companies that make opioids.
The company said in a statement that the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing and noted that most of the work covered by the settlement was done by Rosetta, a company owned by Publicis that closed 10 years ago.
“Rosetta’s role was limited to performing many of the standard advertising services agencies provide to their clients for products that are still prescribed to patients today, covered by major private insurers, Medicare, and authorized by state boards of pharmacy.” , Publicis said.
The company also reaffirmed its policy of not undertaking new work on opioid-related products.
Publicis added that the company’s insurers are reimbursing $130 million and that $7 million of the settlement amount will be used for state legal fees.
London-based Hikma also said the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.
Drug manufacturers, wholesalerspharmacies, at least one consulting firm and health data firm agreed to opioid settlements with US federal, state and local governments more than 50 billion dollars.
One of the largest individual settlements proposed is between state and local governments and Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma. As part of the deal, members of the Sackler family, who own the company, will contribute up to $6 billion, plus give up ownership. The US Supreme Court consider whether it is appropriate for family members to be shielded from civil suits as part of the deal.
The opioid crisis has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in three waves.
The first began after OxyContin hit the market in 1996 and was mostly linked to prescription opioids, many of them generic. By about 2010, when there was a crackdown on overprescribing and the black market for pills, heroin deaths increased dramatically. More recently, opioids have been linked to more than 80,000 deaths a year, more than ever before. Most involve illegally manufactured fentanyl and other powerful laboratory-made drugs.
