US authorities launch criminal investigation into McKinsey’s involvement in opioid scandal

The US Department of Justice is currently conducting a criminal investigation into McKinsey consulting firm’s past involvement in providing advice to some of the nation’s largest opioid manufacturers. The suspicion revolves around how the firm may have helped these companies increase sales. Federal prosecutors are looking into whether McKinsey or its employees obstructed legal proceedings related to their consulting services to opioid manufacturers.

The investigation has been ongoing for several years, with a grand jury empaneled in Virginia. The US Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of Virginia and the District of Massachusetts are jointly conducting the investigation. McKinsey has chosen not to comment on the matter.

The focus of the criminal investigation is on the consulting advice given by McKinsey to drugmakers like Purdue, Endo International, and Mallinckrodt. Previous civil lawsuits against the consulting firm have accused it of exacerbating opioid addiction, which McKinsey has denied. In 2021, McKinsey settled with all 50 states, the five territories, and Washington, D.C., agreeing to pay $642 million to resolve opioid-related civil lawsuits without admitting liability.

Former McKinsey clients, such as Purdue Pharma, Endo International, and Mallinckrodt, faced lawsuits alleging deceptive marketing practices and fueling addiction, eventually filing for bankruptcy. McKinsey consultants advised these companies on strategies to boost sales, such as targeting high-prescription writers and reducing focus on low-prescription writers. McKinsey has stated that it stopped working with opioid-specific businesses in 2019 and aimed to support the legal use of opioids for legitimate medical needs.

The rise in opioid prescriptions from companies like Purdue Pharma in the 1990s contributed to the opioid epidemic, with nearly 645,000 deaths from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2021. Prosecutions of Purdue Pharma and Endo International have previously occurred, with McKinsey now under investigation for its role in advising these companies. These investigations have led to settlements and guilty pleas from pharmaceutical companies connected to McKinsey’s consulting services.