HISTORIC

Ad Agency to Pay $350M in First OxyContin Claim Settlement

Publicis will have to pay within 60 days and has agreed not to take on new opioid clients, New York’s attorney general said.

A French advertising group that marketed the pain medication OxyContin will pay $350 million to U.S. states in the first such agreement reached between prosecutors and an ad agency over its role in the opioid crisis. Publicis will have to pay within 60 days and has agreed not to take on new opioid clients, New York state Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Thursday. She said the French business had developed “predatory and deceptive marketing strategies for Purdue Pharma,” the company owned by the Sackler family that created OxyContin. “For a decade, Publicis helped opioid manufacturers like Purdue Pharma convince doctors to overprescribe opioids, directly fueling the opioid crisis and causing the devastation of communities nationwide,” James added. “No amount of money can compensate for lives lost and addiction suffered, but with this agreement, Publicis will cease their illegal behavior and pay $350 million to help our communities rebuild.”