Publicis Health reaches US$160 million Opioid marketing settlement

Publicis Health is paying US$160 million (€148 million) as part of a settlement after three years of discussions related to past work undertaken for opioid manufacturers by former advertising agency Rosetta.

The settlement amount will be contributed to the United States' opioid relief effort. More than US$19 million of the settlement will go to New York.

“After three years of discussions, this settlement brings the matter to a close with a net payment of €148 million (US$160 million). The full settlement amount should quickly and directly contribute to the States’ opioid relief effort," said Publicis Health in a statement.

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Negotiations for the settlement, in a legal document MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw, requires Publicis to pay the amount within 60 days. The advertising agency is also prohibited from "accepting any future engagements relating to the marketing, promotion, advertising, sale, prescribing, or use of any opioid."

In a statement, Publicis Health said the settlement is "in no way an admission of wrongdoing or liability."

"We will, if need be, defend ourselves against any litigation that this agreement does not resolve," continued Publicis Health.

The settlement involving Publicis Health was the result of a coalition co-led by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Publicis had worked with Purdue Pharma from 2010 to 2019 on marketing campaigns for OxyContin, Butrans and Hysingla. According to James in an X post, Publicis had “developed deceptive and dangerous marketing and ad campaigns to increase the sales of its deadly opioids.”

She added that this is “the first settlement with an advertising agency for its role in the opioid crisis” and that her office will continue to “go after those who contributed to this devastation.”

Publicis Health was first sued by the state of Massachusetts in 2021. The lawsuit alleged that the advertising company had "designed and developed marketing schemes" to push doctors to prescribe opioids to more patients, in higher does and for longer periods of time. 

It added that Publicis Health's campaigns "targeted the most dangerous prescribers, including in Massachusetts" and had deployed "illegal advertisements embedded with patients' electronic medical records" to get doctors to "convert patients to Oxycontin". It also claimed that Publicis Health's marketing played a role in "fuelling the opioid crisis". 

Purdue filed for bankruptcy in September 2019 in the wake of "thousands of lawsuits" accusing the company of grievous misconduct for its role in causing the opioid epidemic. In November 2020, Purdue settled civil claims by the Department of Justice and pleaded guilty to felonies spanning a decade. 

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