Global business consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to a $ 573 million settlement on its role in advising companies on how to “overload” opioid sales amid an overdose crisis, it said on Wednesday. a person with knowledge of the agreement.
The person was not allowed to speak publicly about the deal before Thursday’s planned announcement and filing in courts in 47 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories.
McKinsey did not immediately respond to a call or email from the AP on Wednesday night.
Without naming McKinsey, attorneys general in at least North Carolina and West Virginia have scheduled announcements for Thursday morning over the opioid crisis. And Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement that the state will file a consent decree Thursday involving McKinsey “which will lead to corporate reforms and more than $ 13 million for Washington state for opioid treatment, prevention and recovery efforts ”. Ferguson said he is separate from the multistate agreement.
Most of the money from the national settlement, which was first reported by The New York Times, will be sent to the states in less than a year and will be used to alleviate the national overdose crisis. Prescription and illegal opioids such as heroin and illegal fentanyl combined have been linked to the deaths of more than 470,000 Americans since 2000. And the epidemic has deepened amid the coronavirus pandemic.
State and local governments have filed lawsuits in recent years against companies that produce and sell prescription opioids for their role in the crisis. But going after a consulting firm is a new wrinkle in dispute.
McKinsey provided documents used in legal proceedings regarding manufacturer OxyContin Purdue Pharma, including some describing its efforts to help the company try to “overload” opiate sales in 2013, as the reaction to the overdose crisis affected the prescription.
Documents made public in last year’s Purdue proceedings include emails among McKinsey. One in 2008, a year after the company pleaded guilty to opioid offenses, says board members, including a member of the Sackler family, “blessed” him to do whatever he thought was necessary to “save the business.” “”.
Purdue is in bankruptcy court to try to settle the lawsuit against her. The company has proposed a solution that could be worth $ 10 billion over time. Last year, the company pleaded guilty to criminal charges, in part in an agreement with the federal government. Both Purdue and members of the Sackler family who own the company have agreed to pay the US government $ 225 million as part of the deal.
A group of the largest drug distribution companies, plus drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, also worked on a national agreement.