February 8, 2024
On Friday, February 2, 2024 New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced that New Jersey will receive nearly $9.5 million from a national settlement with Publicis Health, LLC (Publicis) to resolve investigations into the global marketing and communications firms' role in the prescription opioid crisis. The total national settlement with Publicis amounts to $350 million.
As shared in a news release from the Office of the Attorney General, "Unlike certain other opioid settlements, the Publicis settlement does not contemplate participation by local governments. The settlement funds will therefore be spent solely by the State in support of its harm abatement efforts."
Attorney General Platkin was quoted in the news release saying, "When you visit a physician, you do not expect that the details of your most intimate and personal struggles with illness and pain will be converted into pharmaceutical product marketing materials to be used to increase opioid sales . . . I can't think of a better example of an 'unconscionable' commercial practice than exploiting the suffering of patients in order to grow profits."
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