黑料吃瓜网

As former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani makes frequent headlines as President Donald Trump鈥檚 personal lawyer in the Russia investigation, the settlement his firm helped secure in Florida is drawing new scrutiny. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Six months after hiring former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani鈥檚 consulting firm, Purdue Pharma settled a Florida state investigation that had threatened to expose early illegal marketing of its blockbuster drug OxyContin, company and state records show.

The November 2002 was a coup for the drugmaker, which at the time faced growing criticism about overdose deaths and addiction linked to the painkiller. Purdue agreed to pay the state $2 million to help fund a computer database to track narcotics prescriptions and up to $150,000 to sponsor five one-day conferences to educate law enforcement about drug abuse.

In exchange, Florida鈥檚 then-attorney general, Robert Butterworth, dropped his marketing investigation, which had uncovered initial that Purdue misled doctors and the public about OxyContin鈥檚 safety, state records show.

Today, as Giuliani makes frequent headlines as President Donald Trump鈥檚 personal lawyer in the Russia investigation, the settlement his firm helped secure in Florida is drawing new scrutiny 鈥� and mixed opinions.

鈥淭his was a missed opportunity,鈥� David Moy茅, a former director of economic crimes and health care fraud for the Florida Attorney General鈥檚 Office, said of the settlement. 鈥淭hey let them [Purdue] off the hook,鈥� said Moy茅, now a lawyer in Tallahassee.

Butterworth agreed to drop any claims 鈥渁rising out of the sale and marketing鈥� of OxyContin up to Nov. 1, 2002. That happened even though Purdue never paid for the database because state lawmakers balked at supporting it.

On Tuesday, Butterworth told KHN that he realized at the time that a 鈥渃ouple million dollars wasn鈥檛 going to solve the problem鈥� caused by what he termed 鈥渉orrific鈥� marketing of OxyContin. But, he said, 鈥渨hen you are the first state to take this on, you have to start somewhere.鈥�

Now a lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, Butterworth said he regretted that more wasn鈥檛 done early on to halt improper marketing of opioids.

鈥淚 wish that law enforcement would have taken them out 20 years ago. It is absolutely insane that so many people die each year [from opioids],鈥� he said.

The Florida AG鈥檚 marketing investigation remains noteworthy because some of the evidence it unearthed could play a role in an avalanche of lawsuits that now blame Purdue and other opioid makers for fueling the nation鈥檚 addiction epidemic.

More than 1,500 of these suits, mostly filed by state and local governments against opioid manufacturers and distributors, seek compensation for the costs of treating addiction.

鈥淲e allege the [opioid epidemic] is a consequence of this kind of [marketing] conduct,鈥� said Paul Hanly, co-counsel for a group of lawsuits consolidated in federal court in Cleveland. Addiction treatment costs have 鈥渉emorrhaged鈥� over the past 10 years and cost billions of dollars, he said. The drug companies and distributors have denied responsibility in court filings.

Trump earlier this year declared the opioid epidemic a 鈥渘ational emergency,鈥� and suggested last month that the federal government also sue drug companies.

Giuliani launched his consulting firm, Giuliani Partners LLC, in early 2002. For years, detractors have argued that the ex-mayor traded on the respect and celebrity gained by his leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to help Purdue duck responsibility for misdeeds.

On Aug. 24, two Democratic senators the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate Giuliani鈥檚 role in a 2007 criminal case against Purdue in Virginia, which accused the company of making false claims about OxyContin鈥檚 safety. The request follows a New York Times that alleged Giuliani鈥檚 influence led prosecutors to ease off charges that could have crippled the company.

The 2002 Florida investigation, by taking aim directly at Purdue鈥檚 aggressive sales tactics, had posed a significant threat to the company. Released late in 1995, OxyContin topped $1 billion in annual sales by 2002.

The investigation picked up steam in July 2002, less than two months after Purdue hiring Giuliani Partners to help it 鈥渃ombat prescription drug abuse and diversion.鈥� The firm鈥檚 duties included building support for electronic prescription monitoring plans and developing education programs for law enforcement 鈥� the two pillars of the settlement in Florida.

As a sign of its willingness to cooperate with the state, Purdue to turn over its confidential OxyContin marketing plans from 1996 through 2002. Kaiser Health News obtained these reports from the Florida AG and published them in June, with the remaining materials cited here.

Giuliani Partners founding member Daniel Connolly spoke on Purdue鈥檚 behalf at a July 23, 2002, with the Florida AG staff, notes of the meeting obtained from the Florida AG鈥檚 office show. Connolly had no comment.

So did Miami attorney Jon Sale, a law school pal of Giuliani鈥檚 who remains a close friend. Sale said in a recent interview that Giuliani 鈥渕ost likely鈥� had asked him to represent Purdue in the legal negotiations.

Purdue鈥檚 support for the database was among the issues discussed, the meeting notes show. Sale said Purdue hoped the database would allow doctors to check if a patient in their waiting room was receiving opioid prescriptions elsewhere, an abusive practice known as 鈥渄octor shopping.鈥�

鈥淓verybody thought it was a wonderful idea,鈥� Sale said in a recent interview.

Former Florida assistant attorney general Dave Aronberg, who worked on the investigation but left before its settlement, agreed.

Aronberg blamed some Republican lawmakers, who saw the database as a threat to patient privacy, for torpedoing the deal. The settlement released Purdue from paying most of the $2 million if legislators did not approve additional funding for the database within two years.

Aronberg said the legislation, which eventually passed more than two years later in 2009, could have saved many lives had the database been set up earlier. Most states now have the computerized systems, though some their effectiveness in curbing opioid overdose deaths and other abuse.

The 2002 settlement, and the political skirmishes over the databank, put the brakes on the AG鈥檚 investigation of potentially illegal sales promotions. For instance, an AG鈥檚 office investigator interviewed a former Purdue sales manager, who said company executives had directed its sales force to advise doctors that OxyContin was not addictive, according to notes of the interview. Though Purdue gave the state a of the names and contact information for more than 100 of its sales agents, the same records indicate that the sales manager appears to be the only one interviewed.

Records from the AG鈥檚 office show that Purdue also turned over marketing materials that downplayed the risks of addiction from the drug, including a that advised patients, 鈥淔ear should not stand in the way of relief of your pain.鈥� Other records included the of all employees who had helped write product warnings for OxyContin and Purdue鈥檚 for paying commissions to its sales force.

Former fraud director Moy茅 said that the revelations in these records and other evidence, such as Medicaid billing data that showed some doctors were recklessly prescribing of OxyContin should have prompted Florida officials to demand tougher enforcement, including a hefty fine, and an agreement to cease marketing violations in the future.

鈥淲e could have cleaned this up,鈥� Moy茅 said.

But Hanly, the lawyer now suing opioid makers, noted that the marketing records were later used by the Justice Department in securing Purdue鈥檚 criminal convictions in 2007. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like they didn鈥檛 have any consequences,鈥� he said.

Giuliani Partners was not the only high-profile hire at Purdue. It also retained Eric Holder, a former assistant attorney general under President Bill Clinton who went on to serve as attorney general in the Obama administration. In 2004, Holder helped negotiate a $10 million settlement of a lawsuit filed by the West Virginia attorney general, who accused Purdue of deceptive marketing. Holder鈥檚 role also has drawn .

But Purdue appears to have placed special trust in Giuliani Partners. In the 2002 press release, Purdue Executive Vice President Michael Friedman said the 鈥渕anagement experience, law enforcement background, leadership and integrity of Giuliani Partners and its CEO Rudolph W. Giuliani are tremendous assets to our company.鈥�

Friedman and two other Purdue executives pleaded guilty to criminal charges of 鈥渕isbranding鈥� OxyContin in the 2007 Virginia case.

黑料吃瓜网 News鈥� coverage of prescription drug development, costs and pricing is supported in part by the .