As part of a new national $350 million settlement, Alabama will be receiving close to $5.5 million to help combat the opioid crisis plaguing the state, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced.
The settlement comes after Publicis Health, a global marketing and communications firm that worked with several opioid related companies, admitted its conduct had caused harm to the public, Marshall’s office said. As part of the settlement, the company will also disclose thousands of internal documents detailing its work with opioid companies such as Purdue Pharma on public websites. In addition, it will stop accepting client work related to opioid-based Schedule II or other Schedule III controlled substances.
“Alabama remains unwavering in our multifaceted effort to hold all contributors – manufacturing, distribution, prescription, or marketing—for their part in the opioid epidemic,” Marshall said. “Publicis played a pivotal role in promoting these drugs, contributing to overprescribing, fostering addiction, and tragically resulting in numerous lives lost.
“Our commitment to ending this epidemic knows no bounds, and we will relentlessly pursue justice to restore Alabama from the profound societal impact caused by the collective actions of the opioid industry and its associates.”
Court filings in the Montgomery County Circuit Court describe how Publicis’ work contributed to the crisis by helping Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers market and sell opioids. Court documents also detail how Publicis acted as Purdue’s agency of record for all its branded opioid drugs, including OxyContin, even developing sales tactics that relied on farming data from recordings of personal health-related in-office conversations between patients and providers. Marshall said. The company played a significant role in Purdue’s decision to market OxyContin to providers on patients’ electronic health records as well.
Marshall said the state has reached settlements with drug manufacturers and other related companies for their roles in the crisis totaling more than $500 million.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
