The US Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into McKinsey consulting firm for its past advising of some of the largest opioid manufacturers in the nation. The investigation centers around suspicions that the firm helped increase sales for these manufacturers by providing consulting services.
Federal prosecutors are looking into whether McKinsey or its employees obstructed legal proceedings related to its consulting services to opioid manufacturers. A grand jury has been empaneled in Virginia as part of the federal investigation, which is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of Virginia and the District of Massachusetts.
McKinsey has declined to comment on the investigation. The criminal investigation is focusing on the consulting advice provided by McKinsey to drugmakers like Purdue, Endo International, and Mallinckrodt. These consulting services led to civil lawsuits against McKinsey in the past for its alleged role in exacerbating opioid addiction.
In recent years, McKinsey reached a settlement with all 50 states in the US, along with Washington, D.C., and five U.S. territories to pay $642 million without admitting wrongdoing for its role in the opioid crisis. The company also reached agreements totaling $347 million with public schools, insurance companies, and more. McKinsey has maintained that it was helping the legal use of opioids and patients with legitimate medical needs.
The pharmaceutical companies that McKinsey advised, including Purdue, Endo, and Mallinckrodt, have faced mass lawsuits for allegedly fueling addiction through deceptive marketing practices. In fact, one such lawsuit accused Purdue Pharma of knowingly downplaying OxyContin’s addictive properties while continuing to market it aggressively from 1996 until at least 2011 when it paid a record-breaking settlement with several states over its role in contributing to widespread opioid abuse.
McKinsey’s recommendations to Purdue included strategies to increase OxyContin sales such as targeting high-volume prescribers and reducing time spent on low-volume prescribers.
Overall, McKinsey’s role in advising pharmaceutical companies on increasing opioid sales has come under scrutiny as part of a larger investigation into the opioid crisis in America