Court papers filed in Virginia on Friday say that the consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to pay $650 million to end a government investigation into the work it did for Purdue Pharma, a company that makes opioids.
McKinsey has also agreed to stop being prosecuted on certain criminal charges, such as the charge that it worked with Purdue Pharma to help misbrand prescription drugs.
The court papers also say that a former top partner at McKinsey has agreed to plead guilty to keeping the law from being done.
On Friday, McKinsey reps didn’t answer their phones or emails right away.
Because it helped businesses figure out how to sell more opioid pills during a national opioid crisis, McKinsey has agreed to pay state and local governments about $765 million in settlements since 2021.
The company also agreed to pay $78 million to healthcare funds and insurance companies last year.
Since the 1980s, the U.S. has had a problem with addiction and overdoses that has killed more than 80,000 people in the last few years. Most of the deaths in the last ten years have been linked to illegal fentanyl, which is found in a lot of illegal drugs. Prescription drugs were the main cause of death early on in the outbreak.
For some, the problem began when OxyContin from Purdue Pharma hit the market in 1996.
In 2007, three Purdue executives admitted to misbranding, and the company decided to pay a fine. The company admitted to criminal charges in 2020 and agreed to pay $8.3 billion in fines and losses. Most of these will be waived as long as the company agrees to a deal in bankruptcy court, which is still being worked on.
Documents from McKinsey that have been made public over the years show that Purdue hired the consulting firm to help “turbocharge” opioid sales in 2013. This was done because the company’s drugs were being given less because of the opioid crisis.
Article Source: McKinsey & Company agrees to $650 million settlement with feds over opioids work
