The California Attorney General, along with a coalition of attorneys general from 47 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories, announced a $600 million settlement with one of the world’s largest consulting firms, McKinsey & Company (McKinsey).
McKinsey & Company is an American worldwide management consulting firm, founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that advises on strategic management to corporations, governments, and other organizations.
Under the leadership of Marvin Bower, McKinsey expanded into Europe during the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s, McKinsey’s Fred Gluck – along with Boston Consulting Group’s Bruce Henderson, Bill Bain at Bain & Company, and Harvard Business School’s Michael Porter – transformed corporate culture.
McKinsey advised opioid makers on how to “turbocharge” sales of OxyContin, propose strategies “to counter the emotional messages from mothers with teenagers that overdosed” on OxyContin, and help opioid makers circumvent regulation.
The firm also advised Purdue Pharma to offer pharmacies rebates based on the number of overdoses and addictions they caused.
In February 2021, McKinsey reached agreements with attorneys general in 49 states, five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. Across the settlements, the firm agreed to pay nearly $600 million to settle investigations into its role in promoting sales of OxyContin.
The settlement also resolves California’s investigation into the company’s role in advising opioid companies, helping those companies promote their drugs, and profiting from the opioid epidemic. California will receive $59,613,603.99 from the settlement.
In addition to providing funds to address the crisis, the agreement calls on McKinsey to prepare tens of thousands of its internal documents detailing its work for Purdue Pharma and other opioid companies for public disclosure online.
When states began to sue Purdue’s directors for their implementation of McKinsey’s marketing schemes, McKinsey partners began corresponding about deleting documents and emails related to their work for Purdue.