Former Gov. Chris Christie scored a lucrative consulting gig worth $800,000 to be an adviser to a pharmaceutical company less than a year after he headed President Donald Trump’s special commission on opioids and addiction, according to a published report.

Pacira BioSciences paid Christie the high six-figure sum in 2018 and 2019 as the company lobbied the federal government for new Medicare rates for its non-opioid painkiller used during and immediately after surgeries, Politico New Jersey reported.

The opioid commission’s final report, published in November 2017, recommended the company’s painkiller get a higher Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rate. The federal government ultimately agreed to higher reimbursement rates in some cases, citing “the recommendation from the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis” Politico New Jersey reported.

The former governor had no connection with the company while he headed the commission and insisted he joined after the panel’s report was issued because Pacira BioSciences’ non-opioid painkiller could help fight the country’s opioid epidemic.

“Pacira is providing non-opioid pain relief to patients in an era where we see the dangers of opioid addiction in every corner of America," Christie told NJ Advance Media on Thursday. "I am proud to be associated with a company with such an effective tool in the war on preventing opioid addiction in the first place.”

Christie was paid a $481,000 contract by mid-2018 for “high-level guidance about organizational strategy,” a Pacira BioSciences spokesperson told Politico. He received $380,000 the next year.

The former governor’s earnings also included the option to buy 35,000 shares of Pacira BioSciences stock.

He no longer works as an adviser to the company’s CEO. Instead, he’s serving on the company’s board of directors.

“Gov. Christie was not a consultant to Pacira at any point during his tenure as chair of President Trump’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis,” Pacira BioSciences spokeswoman Amber Sears told Politico New Jersey in a statement.

“Our consulting relationship began in mid-2018. During the course of this relationship, Gov. Christie ... was not involved in executing our governmental relations engagements."

Christie spent much of his last year in office shining a spotlight on opioid addition.

The advisory gig is just one of a handful of ways the former governor is earning an income these days.

Christie opened a law firm after he left office and wrote a book. He’s also an ABC News analyst and the former governor, along with his wife Mary Pat Christie, co-founded a property investment fund, to name a few.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

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