Consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to pay $650 million to settle a federal investigation related to its work for opioids manufacturer Purdue Pharma.
The settlement includes conditions such as McKinsey ceasing any involvement in the sale, marketing, or promotion of controlled substances for five years and avoiding criminal prosecution if the sum is paid and conditions are met.
The big picture: McKinsey received over $93 million from Purdue Pharma over 15 years for various products, including strategies to boost revenue from OxyContin.
- One strategy involved identifying prescribers that would increase prescriptions, leading to unsafe and unnecessary prescriptions not medically accepted.
- McKinsey also worked to help Purdue Pharma influence federal rules on prescription drug benefits, resulting in reduced oversight for high-dose OxyContin and voluntary prescriber training.
- A former senior partner of McKinsey has also agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice for deleting documents related to investigations into Purdue Pharma.
Driving the news: Since 2021, McKinsey has settled with state and local governments for approximately $765 million for its role in promoting powerful prescription painkillers during the opioid crisis.
- The opioid crisis has led to over 80,000 deaths, with illicit fentanyl being a primary cause in recent years; advocates attribute the crisis to Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin introduction in 1996.
- Purdue Pharma executives have previously pleaded guilty to charges related to misbranding, and the company reached a settlement for criminal charges in 2020 involving $8.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures.
