CHARLESTON – West Virginia will receive a $10 million settlement from a national consulting firm that allegedly designed marketing plans and programs that helped fuel the state's opioid epidemic.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced the settlement February 4. His office says it resolves allegations that McKinsey & Company Inc. collected millions from the nation’s largest opioid manufacturers, most notably a more than 15-year relationship with Purdue Pharma, to boost sales of OxyContin even well after the opioid epidemic peaked.
“Marketing efforts to boost the profits of opioid drug makers have caused – and continue to cause – immense harm to West Virginia,” Morrisey said of West Virginia’s settlement. “Such strategies valued profits above human life, and those responsible must be held accountable.
“These funds must be used to solve the root causes of opioid abuse, and I am committed to working to develop a long-term plan to help our state’s citizens and communities on a road to recovery.”
The state filed its own lawsuit and reached its own settlement with McKinsey, which also announced a similar but separate $534 million national consent agreement February 4. The national figure includes a $15 million payment to the National Association of Attorneys General.
“By filing this lawsuit independently and reaching it without use of outside counsel we’ve saved the state millions and millions of dollars,” Morrisey said. “There are a lot of similarities of the terms, but I think this settlement puts West Virginia first.”
Morrisey alleges McKinsey targeted high-volume prescribers, considered ways to conceal its activity and involved itself in conflicts of interest by consulting with governments and nonprofits to clean up the very crisis it helped create, all while still working for those same opioid makers.
The state settlement and corresponding lawsuit were filed February 4 in Greenbrier Circuit Court. The settlement requires McKinsey to pay $10 million to the state, prohibits the New York-based company from doing business related to opioids and requires McKinsey to develop a records retention system. The lawsuit alleged that some employees had considered deleting or destroying documents related to the company’s work with Purdue.
The lawsuit alleges McKinsey’s strategy targeted prescribers who wrote the most prescriptions to boost sales and specific patients to increase brand loyalty. For instance, McKinsey allegedly urged Purdue to consider direct-to-patient, mail-order pharmacies after scrutiny by a large pharmacy chain.
Morrisey further alleges McKinsey viewed the growing drug abuse crisis itself as a profit-making opportunity by suggesting Purdue manufacture and market opioid treatment and rescue medications. In the face of mounting overdose deaths and lawsuits, McKinsey also proposed a plan for Purdue’s eventual exit from the opioid business.
The lawsuit alleges McKinsey also worked with Johnson & Johnson, Mallinckrodt LLC and Endo Health Solutions Inc., along with Purdue. Morrisey filed suit against each of those manufacturers and one other in 2019.
The settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by McKinsey. All agreed to the settlement to avoid the expense and uncertainty of further litigation.
Morrisey said work regarding the McKinsey settlement was handled within his office, meaning no portion of the $10 million settlement will be diverted to reimburse outside law firms.
Greenbrier Circuit Court case number 21-C-10
