The McKinsey & Company consulting firm has agreed to pay $650 million to settle a federal investigation of its work for opioid maker Purdue Pharma, according to court papers filed in Virginia on Friday.
McKinsey has also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve criminal charges, including conspiracy to assist Purdue Pharma in the misbranding of prescription drugs.
A former senior McKinsey partner has also agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice, according to court documents.
McKinsey representatives did not immediately respond to phone and email messages Friday.
Since 2021, McKinsey has agreed to pay nearly $765 million to state and local governments for its role in advising businesses about selling more powerful prescription painkillers amid the national opioid crisis.
The consulting firm also agreed to pay $78 million to health care funds and insurance companies last year.
The US has been battling an addiction and overdose crisis for decades, leading to more than 80,000 deaths in recent years. Over the past decade, most deaths have been attributed to illicit fentanyl, which is mixed into many illicit drugs. Earlier in the pandemic, prescription pills were the primary cause of death.
Some advocates say the crisis subsided when Purdue Pharma's OxyContin came to 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 an $8.3 billion fine and forfeiture — most of which will be forgiven as long as it executes the settlement through bankruptcy court, which is still in the works. It is going on.
McKinsey documents made public over the years describe Purdue using the consulting firm to help “turbocharge” opioid sales in 2013, as the blowback against the opioid crisis meant fewer of the company's drugs were prescribed. Was going.
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Mulvihill reported from Philadelphia.