Mckinsey to pay nearly $600M over opioid crisis

Consulting giant worked to boost Oxycontin sales as thousands overdosed

The global consulting firm Mckinsey & Company agreed to pay nearly $600 million (U.S.) for its role in advising businesses on how to sell more prescription opioid painkillers amid a nationwide overdose crisis.

“We deeply regret that we did not adequately acknowledge the tragic consequences of the epidemic unfolding in our communities,” Mckinsey global managing partner Kevin Sneader said in a statement Thursday, noting the company co-operated with investigations. “With this agreement, we hope to be part of the solution to the opioid crisis in the U.S.”

Most of the money is in a $573-million settlement reached with 47 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories, but the company said it had deals with a total of 49 states. Washington’s attorney general announced a separate $13.5-million deal and West Virginia announced a $10million settlement with the New York-based company.

The only remaining state that has not announced a deal with the company is Nevada, where the attorney general’s office said it is continuing an investigation of Mckinsey and speaking with the company about its concerns.

Most of the payments will come within the next two months under the multi-state agreement. The payments are earmarked for abating the raging overdose and addiction crisis that has deepened during the coronavirus pandemic.

Opioids, which include prescription drugs and illegal substances such as heroin and illicit fentanyl, have been linked to more than 470,000 deaths in the U.S. since 2000.

“Even though no amount of money can bring back the lives lost, I hope our settlement provides funding for programs to help those battling opioid addiction,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a statement Thursday.

Mckinsey’s role in the opioid crisis came into focus in recent months in legal documents that were made public as part of Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma’s efforts to settle claims against it through bankruptcy court. They showed the company long worked with Purdue to boost sales even as the extent of the opioid epidemic became clear.

Some documents showed it was trying to “supercharge” flagging Oxycontin sales in 2013.

Its efforts over the years included encouraging Purdue sales representatives to focus on doctors who already prescribed high volumes of Oxycontin and to try to move patients to more potent doses of the drug.

In a statement, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said that Mckinsey would pay out more than it made advising companies on opioid sales.

Sneader said in a letter Thursday to Mckinsey’s employees that the company should use this settlement to address its practices in other areas, too.

“Today’s focus is on opioids,” he wrote, “but we have also faced other issues that have made clear the importance of improving how we act everywhere that we operate.”