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McKinsey & Company agrees to pay $650 million to settle federal probe into opioid activity

McKinsey & Company agrees to pay 0 million to settle federal probe into opioid activity

WASHINGTON — Consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to pay $650 million to settle a federal investigation into its work for opioid maker Purdue Pharma, according to court documents filed Friday in Virginia.

McKinsey also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve criminal charges, including that it conspired with Purdue Pharma to help misbrand prescription drugs.

A former McKinsey senior partner also agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice, according to court documents.

McKinsey representatives did not immediately return phone and email messages Friday.

As of 2021, McKinsey has agreed to pay state and local governments about $765 million in settlements for its role in advising companies on how to sell more powerful prescription painkillers amid a national opioid crisis.

The consulting firm also agreed last year to pay health funds and insurance companies $78 million.

The US has been in the grip of a decades-long addiction and overdose crisis linked to more than 80,000 deaths in recent years. Over the past decade, most deaths have been attributed to illicit fentanyl, which is linked to many illegal drugs. At the beginning of the epidemic, prescription pills were the leading cause of death.

OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy, February...

OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy, February 19, 2013 in Montpelier, Vt. Credit: AP/Toby Talbot

Some advocates say the crisis was sparked when Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin hit the market in 1996.

Three Purdue executives pleaded guilty to misbranding charges in 2007, and the company agreed to pay a fine. The company pleaded guilty to criminal charges in 2020 and agreed to $8.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures — most of which will be waived as long as it reaches a settlement through bankruptcy court that is still in the works.

McKinsey documents made public over the years describe Purdue using the consulting firm to help “turbocharge” opioid sales in 2013 as the rebound from the opioid crisis meant the company’s drugs were being prescribed less.