Opioid crisis: McKinsey takes out the checkbook to avoid a lawsuit

American consultancy McKinsey will pay US$650 million (C$926 million) as part of a deal with the US government to once again avoid a lawsuit over its role in the crisis. opioids which have caused more than 800,000 deaths since 1999.

This so-called deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), filed Friday in a Virginia federal court, aims to end criminal proceedings after five years of supervision.

The prestigious firm was accused of having contributed to the opioid crisis by advising pharmaceutical groups such as Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of the painkiller OxyContin.

He admitted to having, knowingly and intentionally conspired with Purdue Pharma and others to aid and abet in providing miscommunication about prescription drugsstates the text.

And also to have, by the actions of a senior McKinsey official, knowingly destroyed and hidden archives and documents to obstruct investigations.

The group dismissed, quickly after the start of the scandal, two employees for destroying documents in this affair.

We are deeply sorry for the services we provided to our former client Purdue Pharma and for the actions of a former manager who destroyed documents.

This terrible public health crisis and our past work for opioid manufacturers will always be a source of deep regretcontinued the cabinet press release, stressing having accepted in the DPA the responsibility of [sa] conduct.

This agreement closes this chapter of history de McKinsey.

Virginia Attorney General Chris Cavanaugh, speaking at a news conference with state counterparts and investigators, noted that it was the first consulting firm held criminally liable for providing advice leading to the commission of a crime by its client.

McKinsey committed several years ago to no longer advising companies on the design, manufacturing, promotion, marketing, sale or use of an opiate or any other narcotic.

He notably advised Purdue Pharma to help it boost sales of OxyContin after a dip in sales, a strategy called TurboChargeselon M. Cavanaugh.

According to him, the 650 million US dollars of DPA represent 85 times the fees received by the firm as part of this strategic mission.

Overprescription at the origin of the crisis

The cabinet also recommended that Purdue – which abandoned opioids in 2018 – focus on high dosages, considered the most lucrative, but which are highly addictive.

Overprescription of this drug is widely considered to have triggered the opioid crisis in the United States.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 700,000 people died in the country between 1999 and 2022 from an overdose linked to taking opioids, obtained by prescription or illegally.

For the first time since 2018, the number of deaths linked to opioids (mainly fentanyl) decreased slightly in 2023.

Targeted by an avalanche of lawsuits, the Purdue laboratory declared bankruptcy in 2019, but it encountered several rejections by the courts of its bankruptcy plan.

He appealed to the Supreme Court in Washington, but at the end of June it annulled the latest version, which provided for the creation of a new entity and the payment of at least 5.5 billion US dollars (7, CA$8 billion) over 18 years.

Justices on America’s highest court ruled that the plan exempted the Sackler family, which owns Purdue, from any future lawsuits filed by victims. The Sacklers are accused of heavily promoting OxyContin while knowing it was addictive, earning them tens of billions of dollars.

Large drug distributors such as the CVS, Walgreens and Walmart chains, or even a subsidiary of the French advertising giant Publicis, have also been prosecuted for their role in this crisis.