New Democratic ad hits Ciattarelli on opioid crisis

The New Jersey Democratic State Committee (NJDSC) today unveiled a new digital ad attacking Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli for his former medical publishing company’s role in the opioid abuse crisis.

“Jack Ciattarelli is hiding the truth about his business record,” the ad’s narrator says. “[Audio clip of Ciattarelli]: ‘I started and built two successful Main Street businesses.’ The truth? Ciattarelli made millions misleading people about the risks of opioids. The cost? Thousands of New Jersey families devastated by opioid abuse. He profited while New Jersey families suffered. We can’t trust him to lead our state.”

The ad is referencing an investigative report from NJ.com that found Ciattarelli’s company was paid nearly $12.2 million to publish pharmaceutical company-funded content claiming that patients with chronic pain were at low risk of opioid abuse.

Since the report’s release, Gov. Phil Murphy’s re-election campaign has worked to lift it from behind-a-paywall obscurity to an “explosive” issue in the gubernatorial race.

“I’m very disturbed by [the report],” Murphy said on the New Jersey Globe Power Hour on Saturday. “I think anybody who looks at that should be disturbed by it. He gives you the impression, when he says he’s a Main Street small businessman – among other things, that article told me, with all due respect, [he was] making money from big opioid manufacturers.”