West Virginia reaches $10M settlement with McKinsey & Company over role in opioid distribution

CHARLESTON, W.Va (WDTV) - Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced that his office has reached a $10 million settlement with McKinsey & Company Inc., a consulting firm that designed marketing plans and programs for several opioid distributors, most notably Perdue Pharmaceuticals.

This settlement is not the same as the national settlement McKinsey & Company entered into on Wednesday in which nearly $500 million was awarded to 47 states, including the Washington D.C.

West Virginia, instead, decided to file its own suit as a cost saving measure.

“By filing this lawsuit independently and reaching it without use of outside counsel we’ve saved the state millions and millions of dollars,” A.G. Morrisey said in a press briefing.

The settlement and lawsuit were filed in Greenbrier County Circuit Court on Thursday. They allege McKinsey targeted high-volume prescribers of opioids, considered ways to conceal its actions.

“Marketing efforts to boost the profits of opioid drug makers have caused – and continue to cause – immense harm to West Virginia,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “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 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.

This announcement comes months after Perdue Pharmaceuticals settled a multi-state suit for its role in OxyContin distribution.

Read the Attorney General’s lawsuit at https://bit.ly/2O6s8nX and the corresponding settlement terms at https://bit.ly/2YQk7W5.

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