A subsidiary of the French advertising giant Publicis will pay $350 million to the United States for its role in the opioid crisis (AFP/Archives/Eric BARADAT)
A subsidiary of French advertising giant Publicis will pay $350 million to the United States for its role in the country’s opioid crisis, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 1999, the prosecutor announced on Thursday. State of New York.
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.
All states as well as several American territories will receive a share of the compensation set as part of an agreement with Publicis Health, according to the decision consulted by AFP.
California is to receive the largest amount ($34 million), ahead of Florida ($24.10 million) and Texas ($21.59 million). New York State is to get nearly 19 million.
“For a decade, Publicis helped opioid manufacturers like Purdue Pharma convince doctors to overprescribe opioids, directly fueling the opioid crisis and causing the disappearance of populations across the country,” noted Letitia James, quoted in the press release.
The opioid crisis in the United States (AFP/Archives/John SAEKI)
She believes that Publicis “developed predatory and deceptive marketing strategies for Purdue Pharma in order to increase prescriptions and sales of opiates.”
According to her, the advertising agency created flyers describing OxyContin as a treatment “safe and incapable of causing abuse.”
– More than 700,000 dead –
The Purdue laboratory produces the pain medication OxyContin, the overprescription of which is generally considered to be the trigger of the opioid crisis in the United States.
Undated photo released July 8, 2021 by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of 40 mg OxyCotin tablets (US Drug Enforcement Administration/AFP/Archives/Handout)
According to data from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), more than 700,000 people died between 1999 and 2022 from an overdose linked to taking opiates, obtained on 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 ten years ago.
“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 acknowledgment of fault or responsibility .
“We will defend ourselves, if necessary, against any dispute that this agreement fails to resolve,” assured Publicis Health.
The group, which had made a provision in its accounts for the fourth quarter of 2023 with a view to this transaction, specified to AFP that the total compensation represented 343 million dollars to which are added 7 million in legal costs.
The agency also asserted that the work performed by Rosetta “on behalf of pharmaceutical companies and covered by this settlement has always been fully compliant with the law.”
Targeted by an avalanche of lawsuits, the Purdue laboratory declared bankruptcy in 2019 and has since been negotiating a plan, the latest version of which provides for its closure by 2024 in the United States for the benefit of a new entity (Getty/AFP/ Archives/Drew Angerer)
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.
But the US Supreme Court was asked to approve or cancel 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.
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 potentially illegal distributors,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The group specified in its own press release that this agreement in principle resolved “the vast majority of the proceedings” launched against it in the United States, and that it did not represent an admission of guilt or responsibility.
© 2024 AFP
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