Corporate consulting firm McKinsey & Company is under criminal investigation by the United States Department of Justice for its alleged role in helping the country’s largest opioid makers maximize sales, contributing to the national drug abuse epidemic.
First reported by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, federal prosecutors are focusing on McKinsey’s work advising Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin, as well as Endo International and Mallinckrodt to determine whether the company encouraged advertising that contributed to the spread of opioid use. The probe will also determine whether McKinsey employees and executives obstructed justice during the multi-year investigation into the company.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the investigation is being conducted jointly by the US attorneys in Virginia and Massachusetts, and a grand jury has already been empaneled in Virginia.
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Federal prosecutors allege that McKinsey promised clients like Purdue Pharma, run by the embattled Sackler family, that its network of contacts could “supercharge” the sale of addictive painkillers, marketing directly to healthcare providers and overcoming doctors’ reservations about its side effects.
In 2021, McKinsey reached a $642 million civil settlement with all 50 states, five US territories, and the District of Columbia to resolve opioid-related litigation without admitting wrongdoing. Other settlements with Native American tribes, school districts, insurance companies, and local governments brought the total civil payouts up to roughly $1 billion.
Related: McKinsey Studies Used to Push DEI Debunked by New Report
Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and then pled guilty to multiple criminal charges in 2020. Last year, the Supreme Court blocked the company’s bankruptcy settlement pending a challenge from the Biden administration.
McKinsey previously said that it stopped advising clients on opioid-related business in 2019.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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