McKinsey and Company recently agreed to a $78 million settlement over its role in the opioid epidemic, advising opioid manufacturers to design misleading marketing campaigns. According to the allegations put forth by United States health insurers and company benefit plans, McKinsey advised drug manufacturers (including Purdue Pharma) in creating deceptive marketing campaigns for opioid drugs.
According to PBS News, insurers argued in the case that McKinsey continued to work with Purdue Pharma, even after the extent of the opioid epidemic was clear. McKinsey allegedly worked with Purdue to create and employ aggressive marketing and sales techniques to overcome doctor objections and reservations about opioids. Insurers felt that these techniques ultimately forced them to pay for prescription opioids instead of other alternatives, including safer, non-addictive, and less-expensive drugs such as over-the-counter pain medication. Insurers also wound up paying for opioid addiction treatments that followed the aggressive prescribing of oioids.
The settlement by McKinsey would also establish a fund to reimburse third party payors for some or all of their opioid prescription costs. The settlement does require approval by a judge. Upon approval, McKinsey will have two weeks to wire settlement funds to the plaintiffs.
Paul Geller, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the drug crisis was caused by an oversupply of dangerous addictive drugs, and the case aimed to “recover some of the money spent on the over-prescribed pills.”
When asked for a statement in response to the settlement, McKinsey referred to a previously-released statement, saying, “As we have stated previously, we continue to believe that our past work was lawful and deny allegations to the contrary,” and noting that they agreed to reach a settlement to avoid protracted litigation.
Not the First Settlement
This is not the first settlement McKinsey has reached over its role in the opioid epidemic. We previously wrote about a $573 million settlement in 2021 and an October 2022 settlement with local governments and school districts.
McKinsey was also the subject of a congressional inquiry, which found that 22 company consultants were able to work with both the federal government and opioid manufacturers simultaneously, leveraging their connections with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to obtain more consulting work and potentially influence government officials in the interests of their clients.