McKinsey to pay another $230 million to settle US opioid scandal

Consulting firm McKinsey has agreed to pay $230 million to settle claims by municipalities and school districts as part of its investigation into the opioid epidemic. This is reported by Reuters with reference to statement, filed in federal court in San Francisco. McKinsey has previously paid $640 million for an out-of-court settlement of claims with the same charges from 49 US states and the District of Columbia.

Of the $230 million, municipalities will receive $207 million, school districts – $23 million. At the same time, McKinsey does not admit guilt and emphasizes that its consulting work was carried out within the law. As of 2019, the company no longer advises clients on issues related to opioid medications. Prior to this, the company, as part of its consulting services, advised pharmaceutical companies to increase sales and advertising of such drugs.

The overdose scandal involving prescription opioid drugs, including oxycodone (trade name OxyContin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin), erupted in the United States in the 2010s as it became apparent that overdose rates were epidemic. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2014 alone, almost 2 million Americans abused or were dependent on prescription opioids.

According to CDC estimates, over the entire duration of the opioid epidemic – that is, from 1999 to 2021 – the total number of deaths from overdoses has reached 645 thousand. Thousands of lawsuits have been filed against manufacturers and distributors of opioid drugs, including Purdue Pharma, by state authorities, municipalities, representatives indigenous population, etc. The amount of out-of-court settlements of claims related to the opioid scandal has already exceeded $51 billion. Of this, $8 billion was fine, assigned to Purdue Pharma.

Alena Miklashevskaya