A person with knowledge of the deal told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the global business consulting firm McKinsey & Company had agreed on a $ 573 million settlement on its role in advising companies on how to “compensate” opioid sales.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the agreement prior to Thursday’s planned announcement and submission to the 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 Wednesday night.
Without naming McKinsey, the attorney general in at least North Carolina and West Virginia has scheduled an announcement for Thursday morning about the opioid crisis. And Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement on Thursday that the state would submit a consent decision involving McKinsey “that would lead to corporate reforms and more than $ 13 million to the state of Washington for opioid efforts. to treat, prevent and restore. ” Ferguson said it is separate from the multistate agreement.
Most of the money in the national settlement, first reported by The New York Times, would be sent to the states in less than a year and would be used to reduce the national overdose crisis. Prescribed opioids and illegal products such as heroin and illicit fentanyl 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 in recent years filed lawsuits against companies that manufacture and sell prescribed opioids for their role in the crisis. But going after a consulting firm is a new wrinkle in the lawsuit.
McKinsey provided documents used in the lawsuit against OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, including documents describing the company’s efforts to help tax opioid sales in 2013, as the response to the overdose crisis dictated a tol eis.
Documents released in the Purdue proceedings last year include emails under McKinsey. One of 2008, a year after the company first pleaded guilty to opioid-related crimes, says board members, including a family member of Sackler, ‘blessed’ him to do what he thinks is necessary to run the business te red. ”
Purdue is in bankruptcy court to try to settle lawsuits against it. The company has proposed a settlement that could be worth $ 10 billion over time. The company also pleaded guilty last year to criminal charges in part of a settlement with the federal government. Both Purdue and members of the Sackler family who own the firm have agreed to pay $ 225 million to the U.S. government as part of the deal.
A group of the largest drug distribution companies plus drugmaker Johnson & Johnson are also working on a national settlement.