McKinsey & Company has agreed to pay $650 million to resolve a Justice Department investigation into the consulting firm’s work. Opioid manufacturer OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma How to promote sales.
McKinsey has entered into a five-year deferred prosecution agreement filed in federal court in Abingdon, Washington. resolve criminal charges Brought as part of a rare corporate prosecution related to the marketing of addictive painkillers that helped fuel the deadly US opioid epidemic.
Prosecutors said McKinsey committed suicide in Stamford, Conn. Advised Purdue about measures it could take to “turbocharge” OxyContin sales.
He was charged with conspiracy to misbrand a drug and obstruction of justice.
Martin Elling, a former senior partner at McKinsey, has also agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice for destroying records related to McKinsey’s work for Purdue, according to court papers.
He is scheduled to file his petition on January 10.
According to court documents, Elling deleted documents related to his work for Purdue from his company laptop, and sent himself emails reminding him to do so.
“We deeply regret our past customer service to Purdue Pharma and the actions of a former partner, who deleted documents related to his work for that client,” McKinsey said in a statement.
“We should have appreciated the harm opioids are causing in our society and not be working sales and marketing for Purdue Pharma. “This terrible public health crisis and our past work for opioid manufacturers will always be a source of deep regret for our company.”
An attorney for Elling declined to comment.
The company said McKinsey agreed to pay $650 million over five years, improve its compliance practices to detect illegal activity, and waive oversight from the DOJ and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General as part of the deferred prosecution agreement. Have agreed to do.
The company said the consulting firm also agreed to resolve a related civil investigation regarding alleged violations of the False Claims Act and enter into a “corporate integrity” agreement with the HHS Office of Inspector General.
Purdue pleaded guilty in 2020 to criminal charges that included widespread misconduct regarding its handling of prescription painkillers, including defrauding US officials and paying illegal bribes to both doctors and an electronic healthcare records vendor. Conspiracy was involved.
Purdue is currently involved in court-ordered arbitration over a billion-dollar settlement in bankruptcy proceedings which was rejected by the US Supreme Court,
In a statement Friday, Purdue said it was working to build consensus on a plan to “deliver billions of dollars of value to opioid eradication” and create a new company as an “engine for good.”
The settlement proceeds are also intended to compensate victims, Perdue said.
McKinsey previously signed deals totaling nearly $1 billion Settle comprehensive lawsuits and other legal actions alleging that the company helped fuel the opioid epidemic through its work advising OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and other drug makers.
In 2019, McKinsey announced that it would no longer advise clients on opioid-related businesses.
The company says none of its settlements involve any admission of liability or fault.
