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DOJ Investigates McKinsey For Role In Opioid Sales Strategy
https://www.whatjobs.com/news/usa/us-business-news/doj-investigates-mckinsey-for-role-in-opioid-sales-strategy
By Nithya Bose in Business News, posted April 25, 2024
The US Justice Department is investigating McKinsey & Company for its consulting work with opioid manufacturers, including strategies to boost sales during the opioid crisis.
The probe was spearheaded by the US attorneys' offices in Massachusetts, the Western District of Virginia, and the department's civil division in Washington.
The inquiry follows the company’s agreement to pay $1 billion to settle several US lawsuits over its opioid consultancy, primarily with Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin.
Despite the settlements, McKinsey has not admitted to any wrongdoing.
Purdue was advised by McKinsey to "turbocharge" sales of its opioids, even as the crisis claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the ongoing criminal investigation, which has been active for a few years.
Pharmaceutical company Endo, which also engaged McKinsey for opioid sales strategies, revealed it received a subpoena related to this investigation in December 2020.
Another company, Mallinckrodt, reported a similar subpoena from the exact US attorney's office last year, hinting at the broad scope of the federal probe.
Central to the investigation are allegations that McKinsey may have obstructed justice by mishandling relevant documents.
A significant episode came to light when The New York Times reported in 2020 that senior McKinsey consultants, including Martin Elling and Arnab Ghatak, had contemplated deleting emails and documents related to their opioid work, leading to their dismissal from the firm.
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Rick Mountcastle, a former federal prosecutor who led a criminal investigation against Purdue Pharma, said the complexities of coordinating among multiple federal and possibly state bodies mean such investigations can extend over many years.
He described the investigative process as a "huge monster bureaucracy" that moves slowly.
As part of its fallout management, McKinsey announced in 2019 that it would cease all consulting services related to opioid products.
McKinsey and Justice Department representatives have not provided comments regarding the ongoing investigation.
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