A French advertising company that worked on Purdue Pharma's OxyContin account agreed to pay $350 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of falsely marketing opioids as safe and unable to be abused.
Publicis Health, the marketing company, agreed to not take on any more opioid clients. It is the first settlement with an advertising agency for its role in the opioid crisis, according to a Feb. 1 attorney general news release.
The lawsuit, filed by the New York Attorney General, alleged that Publicis developed Purdue's "Evolve to Excellence" campaign from 2010 to 2019. The campaign advertised OxyContin to physicians who were frequently prescribing opioids and falsely claimed the drug deterred addiction and abuse and pushed physicians to increase patient doses.
The company did not admit wrongdoing and defended its action as lawful. It said that the division that did the work for Purdue has been shut down for a decade.
"The fight against the opioid crisis in the United States requires collaboration across industries, lawmakers, and communities, and we are committed to playing our part," Publicis said in a statement. "That is why we worked to reach this agreement, and why we are also reaffirming our long-standing decision to turn down any future opioid-related projects."