McKinsey & Co. is poised to pay $78 million to health insurers and company benefit plans, in its latest settlement of lawsuits over its role advising opioid makers in their sales of the painkillers.
The proposed accord, filed in federal court in San Francisco on Friday, would resolve allegations that the management consulting firm helped fuel the US opioid epidemic by providing sales analysis and marketing advice to manufacturers of the highly addictive painkillers, including Purdue Pharma LP and Johnson & Johnson.
More than 3,000 state and local governments have sued opioid makers, distributors and sellers, seeking compensation for billions of tax dollars spent battling the public health crisis spawned by the painkillers. Total recoveries across the US are expected to exceed $50 billion once all payments are made.
McKinsey has previously paid more than $600 million to resolve opioid lawsuits by state attorneys general and agreed in September to pay $230 million over claims by local governments and school districts.
Related: McKinsey Agrees to Pay $230 Million to Settle More Opioid Suits
Friday’s accord resolves claims against McKinsey by so-called third-party payers. They include private benefit plans, multi-employer pension plans and commercial insurers that provide health and welfare benefits.
The plaintiffs alleged they were harmed by paying for prescription opioids “rather than safer, non-addictive and lower-cost prescription drugs (including over-the-counter pain relievers) that would have been used otherwise, and further paid for opioid addiction-related treatment that followed,” according to the filing.
McKinsey has said that its consulting for opioid manufacturers, “while lawful,” nonetheless fell short of its high standards. The company didn’t adequately acknowledge the epidemic unfolding across the US, it said previously, deciding more than four years ago to end all work on opioid-specific business. It said it undertook corporate governance reforms to align its work with its values and social responsibility.
US District Judge Charles Breyer must approve the settlement.
The case is McKinsey & Co. Inc. National Prescription Opiate Consultant Litigation, 21-md-02996, US District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
Photo: Photographer: Bloomberg Creative Photos/Bloomberg
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