The consulting firm McKinsey & Co. reached a $573 million settlement with 47 states and the District of Columbia for allegedly advising drug manufacturers to aggressively advertise opioid painkillers, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The settlement is expected to be announced publicly later Thursday, according to the WSJ.
As part of the settlement, McKinsey will avoid liability in any civil lawsuit brought by state attorneys general.
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) February 4, 2021
McKinsey stopped working with opioid manufacturers in 2019, according to WSJ. McKinsey’s role in the opioid crisis recently became more clear during Purdue Pharma’s chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
Purdue declared bankruptcy in 2019 after being named in over 26,000 state and federal lawsuits related to the opioid crisis. (RELATED: REPORT: Purdue Pharma And Sackler Family Offer $12 Billion To Settle Opioids Lawsuit)
While working with Purdue in 2013, McKinsey suggested Purdue target “higher value” prescribers and other measures to “turbocharge Purdue’s sales engine,” according to WSJ.
The settlement will reportedly be divided among the 47 states, including the District of Columbia, with much of the money being paid upfront and the rest being paid in four yearly payments beginning in 2022, according to The New York Times. McKinsey is also required to create a database with documents from their work with different opioid manufacturers.
In November 2020, Purdue pled guilty to three federal charges stemming from their role in the opioid crisis.
There were 46,802 overdose deaths from opioids in the United States during 2018, according to the CDC.