A New York City-based health care advertising company reached a nationwide settlement Thursday demanding it pay $350 million for its role in the opioid epidemic, according to an official announcement.

Within 60 days, Publicis Health shall “pay to the settler state a total of $350 million.” court documents shared by statement New York State Attorney General Letitia James. The paper added that the agreement “is not a trial or judgment on any question of fact or law, nor is there any finding or admission of wrongdoing or liability of any kind.”

Publicis alleged in a statement that it used predatory and deceptive marketing strategies to help opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma sell opioids such as OxyContin, Butrance, and Hysingla. One such strategy, the Evolve to Excellence initiative, flooded doctors with messages claiming that OxyContin has abuse-deterrent properties and is effective at high doses, the statement said.

“For a decade, Publicis helped Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers persuade doctors to overprescribe opioids, directly fueling the opioid crisis and devastating communities across the country.” James said in a statement.

Rosetta, the now-defunct agency formerly owned by Publicis, was responsible for opioid advertising, Publicis announced. statement. “The full amount of the settlement should contribute quickly and directly to national opioid relief efforts,” the statement reads in part. (Related: Retail giant pays more than $1 billion in opioid settlement)

There have been three waves of opioid overdose deaths nationwide. according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The first involves natural and semi-synthetic opioids and methadone and began in the 1990s and has increased since 1999. The second involved heroin and began in 2010. The third involved synthetic opioids, specifically fentanyl, and began in 2013.

According to the CDC, between 1999 and 2021, nearly 645,000 people died from opioid overdoses, including prescription and illicit opioids.

According to James' statement, 4,233 New Yorkers died from an opioid overdose in 2020, up from 1,074 in 2010, and as of November 2022, a New Yorker died from an opioid overdose every two hours. He said he died from ingestion.

“[W]We also reaffirm our longstanding decision to decline future opioid-related projects,” Publicis said in a statement.