Consulting firm McKinsey to pay $650 million to resolve US criminal opioid probe
CNN
McKinsey & Co has agreed to pay $650 million to resolve a US Department of Justice investigation into the consulting firm’s work advising opioid manufacturer OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma on how to boost sales.
McKinsey & Co has agreed to pay $650 million to resolve a US Department of Justice investigation into the consulting firm’s work advising opioid manufacturer OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma on how to boost sales. McKinsey has entered into a five-year deferred prosecution agreement filed in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia, to resolve criminal charges brought as part of the latest corporate prosecution concerning the marketing of addictive painkillers that helped fuel the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic. Prosecutors said that McKinsey provided Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue advice on measures it could take to “turbocharge” OxyContin sales. It was charged with conspiring to misbrand a drug and obstruction of justice. A former senior McKinsey partner, Martin Elling, has also agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice for destroying records related to McKinsey’s work for Purdue, according to court papers. He is scheduled to enter his plea on Jan. 10. Elling deleted documents related to his work for Purdue from his company laptop, sending himself emails to remind himself to do so, according to court papers. “We are deeply sorry for our past client service to Purdue Pharma and the actions of a former partner who deleted documents related to his work for that client,” McKinsey said in a statement.
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