Opioids have destroyed many lives throughout America over the last several years. Like many states, Oklahoma was hit hard. Recently, the state Attorney General announced that Oklahoma will receive almost nine million dollars as part of a multi-state settlement. Interestingly, the settlement is not being paid by a pharmaceutical company. Instead, it will come from a consulting firm.
McKinsey & Company’s role
Many corporations employ consulting firms to provide advice and guidance to them. In the case of Purdue Pharma, they turned to McKinsey & Company to help them increase sales of Oxycontin at a time when many people were already dying of overdoses. McKinsey did a number of unethical things during the relationship.
In one example, McKinsey estimated thousands of overdoses would occur, and proposed offering rebates for each overdose. Although the program was never implemented, emails and other communications show that McKinsey was very careless about discussing the loss of life related to Oxycontin.
McKinsey promoted a highly addictive drug that ultimately devastated thousands of people across the country. In announcing the acceptance of the settlement, the Attorney General noted that the funds would be used to help combat the opioid crisis. Hopefully, other consulting firms will show better judgement about pushing dangerous products in the future.
Business litigation like multi-state lawsuits is complex. Often, this type of lawsuit is pursued when a product on the market has caused serious harm to end users. If you or a loved one has been hurt by a medication, it’s a good idea to contact a lawyer. Often, the attorneys who take these cases work on a contingency fee basis. That means they are only paid if their clients win. They may be able to help you understand if your case is good, and how to pursue it.