NC Attorney General reaches $573 million settlement with McKinsey over its role in opioid epidemic

RALEIGH, N.C. (WECT) - Attorney General Josh Stein announced Thursday that he has reached a $573 million multi-state settlement with consulting firms McKinsey & Company over its role in advising opioid companies on how to promote their drugs and profit from the opioid epidemic.

“The opioid epidemic has ripped families apart all across our state,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “Just as we were making progress in fighting back, the COVID-19 pandemic made overdose deaths spike again. I am committed to doing everything in my power to fight this epidemic – and that includes holding accountable those who are responsible for its creation and have profited from it.

“We allege that McKinsey helped to develop and promote schemes that led to widespread overprescription of Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin. Not only have we put a stop to this dangerous work, but we’re also bringing much-needed resources to the fight against addiction.”

North Carolina will receive $18,984,494.71 over five years, with the vast majority coming in the first year. The settlement requires that those funds be spent on opioid abatement.

The agreement also requires McKinsey to “produce tens of thousands of its internal documents detailing its work for Purdue Pharma and other opioid companies for public disclosure online.”

“In addition, going forward, McKinsey agreed to adopt a strict document retention plan, continue its investigation into allegations that two of its partners tried to destroy documents in response to investigations of Purdue Pharma, implement a strict ethics code that all partners must agree to each year, and stop advising companies on potentially dangerous Schedule II and III narcotics,” a news release from the AG’s office stated.

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