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Attorney General Charity Clark today announced Feb. 1 that Vermont will receive $1,079,000 as its share of a $350 million national settlement with Publicis Health to resolve investigations into the global marketing and communications firm’s role in the prescription opioid crisis. In agreeing to the terms of the settlement, Publicis recognized the harm its conduct caused.
The company will also disclose on a public website thousands of internal documents detailing its work for opioid companies like Purdue Pharma and will stop accepting client work related to opioid-based Schedule II and Schedule III controlled substances.
“Vermont families and communities have been devastated by the opioid crisis, and as your Attorney General, I remain committed to holding the corporations who contributed to this crisis accountable,” said Attorney General Clark.
Publicis … even developed sales tactics that relied on farming data from recordings of personal health-related in-office conversations between patients and providers.
The court filing describes how Publicis’ work contributed to the crisis by helping Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers market and sell opioids. It describes 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. The company was also instrumental in Purdue’s decision to market OxyContin to providers on patients’ electronic health records.
Vermont is a member of the executive committee that led the multi-state investigation into Publicis. Attorney General Clark is joined in the executive committee by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Tennessee.
