Publicis Health Sued Over OxyContin Marketing

Purdue Pharma's reckoning over the company's promotion of OxyContin contributing to an opioid epidemic has spread to the company's marketing partners. Yesterday, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts accusing Publicis Health of deceptive marketing practices for its role in promoting OxyContin to the state's residents. In a statement, a Publicis Health spokesperson said the company "proudly support[s] organizations fighting the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts and across the country," emphasizing that all its work was "completely lawful" and calling the lawsuit "completely without basis." "Publicis Health acted solely as an advertising agency. It was not a drug manufacturer, distributor, or consultant," the statement continued. "Our role was limited to implementing Purdue's advertising plan and buying media space. We look forward to a court determining there is absolutely no legal basis that supports this lawsuit." In the complaint, Healey claims that from 2010-2019, Publicis Health collected over $50 million across dozens of contracts to market Purdue's opioid products to doctors in order to get them to prescribe the drugs to more patients, over a more prolonged period of time and at higher doses, operating under agency names including Razorfish Health and Rosetta. "Responsibility for the opioid crisis runs across the industry, from Purdue and the Sacklers, to consultants and partners like McKinsey and Publicis," Healey said in a statement. "Publicis convinced doctors to prescribe more OxyContin to more patients as the opioid epidemic was raging. As a result, patients in Massachusetts suffered, overdosed, and died, while Publicis collected tens of millions of dollars." The lawsuit follows a $573 million settlement with McKinsey, co-led by Healey and joined by 53 attorneys general, over similar allegations that McKinsey advised Purdue on how to best target doctors to boost OxyContin sales. The Creative Vision Behind Publicis’ New Cross-Agency Office Le Truc Marketing the opioid nuisance In addition to developing and deploying deceptive marketing practices, the lawsuit filed yesterday accuses Publicis Health of helping to create a public nuisance of opioid use disorder, overdose and death in Massachusetts. The complaint referred to settlements between members of the Sackler family, who owned Purdue Pharma, with the Department of Justice over civil claims. "The materials filed in connection with that plea and settlement refer, again and again, to schemes that Publicis devised and helped implement," the complaint alleges. The lawsuit cited Publicis Health marketing practices, including instructing Purdue to target high prescribers and working with Purdue's internal team to "humanize" its brand. Publicis Health was also responsible for the creation of OxyContin's core visual aid and conversion and titration guide emphasizing a "responsible approach to pain management," which Purdue sales representatives gave to doctors, according to the lawsuit. Additionally, the complaint alleges that amid increased awareness of the opioid epidemic, Publicis Health developed strategies to counteract the CDC guidelines it viewed as a "threat" to Purdue's profits, and that Publicis Health's marketing practices sought to extend the period patients remained on opioids despite this, increasing the likelihood of overdose and death. Publicis Health also placed ads for OxyContin directly in patients' electronic medical records, according to the complaint. The complaint seeks both compensatory damages to the state for its efforts to abate the opiate crisis and to individuals who suffered as a result of its conduct, as well as the payment of civil penalties and enjoining Publicis from marketing controlled substances in the state. "The Massachusetts Attorney General’s complaint cherry picks unrelated statements made over the course of a multiyear engagement. It takes them out of context to create a completely false and misleading narrative," Publicis Health countered in its statement. "The complaint does not identify a single statement made by Publicis Health as false but instead relies on broad unfounded conclusions and a flawed public nuisance theory. Finally, it ignores the statute of limitations, which bars these claims."

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Publicis Health Facing Lawsuit Over Role in Marketing OxyContin

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Erik Oster

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Erik Oster