McKinsey Agrees to Pay $78 Million to Settle Insurers’ Opioid Claims

McKinsey and Co. has agreed to pay $78 million to resolve claims by insurance companies and health care funds that the consulting company helped fuel the opioid addiction epidemic through its work with pharmaceutical companies including OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, the Associated Press reports.

The settlement must still be approved by a judge. Under the settlement, McKinsey would establish a fund to reimburse insurers, private benefits plans and others for some or all of their prescription opioid costs, the article notes.

The claim states that McKinsey worked with Purdue Pharma to create and employ aggressive marketing and sales tactics to persuade doctors to prescribe opioids. Insurers said they had to pay for prescription opioids instead of safer, non-addictive and less expensive medications, such as over-the-counter pain medication. They said they also had to pay for the opioid use disorder treatment that resulted from those prescriptions.

In 2021 McKinsey agreed to pay almost $600 million to states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. Last year the company also came to a separate agreement last year with school districts and local governments.