Massachusetts sues Publicis over ties to Purdue Pharma, opioids
By Jonathan Stempel
Reuters
(Reuters) -Massachusetts sued a unit of French advertising company Publicis Groupe SA on Thursday, accusing it of fueling the U.S. opioid crisis by using unfair and deceptive marketing to help drugmaker Purdue Pharma sell more OxyContin.
The state attorney general Maura Healey said Publicis Health created a public nuisance from 2010 to 2019 through its work for drugmakers on campaigns to persuade doctors to prescribe more opioids, including to patients who did not need them.
Purdue alone paid Publicis more than $50 million for its work, which continued even after Publicis proposed in 2016 that Purdue shut down its sales force to fully embrace a deeper-held responsibility the drugmaker owed the public, Healey said.
Publicis Health UK Launches Unique Agency Offering for Clients Under Langland
Move strengthens market position, simplifying access to Talent spanning the four interconnect disciplines of Clinical Trial Experience, Medical Strategy & Education, Public Relations & Policy and Advertising.
London, UK, 24 September 2020: Publicis Health UK today unveils its new agency offering spanning the four interconnected disciplines of Clinical Trial Experience (CTE), Medical Strategy & Education (MSE), Public Relations & Policy (PRP), and Advertising. The decision to desilo disciplines comes in response to evolving client need – and continued growth in the Health practice – providing seamless access to bespoke teams that bring a different perspective to health.