March 22, 2021
Carson
City, NV – Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced a settlement with one of
the world’s largest consulting firms, McKinsey & Company, Inc. United
States (McKinsey), to resolve investigations into the company’s role in
Nevada’s opioid epidemic. As a result of this settlement, Nevada will receive $45
million.
The State's filings in Court describe how McKinsey
advised opioid manufacturers, including OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, for over
a decade. The complaint, filed with the settlement, alleges that McKinsey
advised Purdue, and other opioid manufacturers, on how to maximize profits from
its opioid products, including targeting high-volume prescribers and using
specific messaging to get physicians to prescribe more opioids to more
patients.
“The devastation caused by the opioid
epidemic affects us all,” said AG Ford. “It’s felt by every mother and
father who has lost a child. It’s felt by siblings who have lost a sister or
brother. And it’s felt by friends and colleagues who lost one of their own. My Bureau
of Consumer Protection has fought on behalf of each of you, and we’re proud of
the results of today’s settlement.”
“Nevada is a hardest hit state by the
opioid crisis and is owed a great deal of compensation and justice,” continued
AG Ford. "I applaud McKinsey's
decision to step forward to address the opioid crisis and the particular
devastation it caused here in Nevada.
McKinsey was the first company to work with our sister states to fix the
problem, rather than engage in protracted litigation or delay, and I am pleased
that McKinsey was willing to do the same with Nevada. McKinsey's
willingness to settle with Nevada, along with sister states, will help focus
our energy on addressing the problem."
AG Ford declined to join the multistate
settlement with McKinsey, instead pursuing separate talks with the consultancy
firm for several reasons, the most important of which are Nevada’s unique
position in the way it was severely impacted by the opioid epidemic, the unique
legal rights granted to the Nevada Attorney General, and the status of the
pending litigation against opioid manufacturers, distributors, pharmacists and
individuals.
Nevada has been uniquely impacted by the
opioid crisis because it has been, and continues to be, one of the hardest hit states
by the opioid epidemic. The opioid crisis has resulted in thousands of deaths
of Nevadans and has imposed an enormous burden on state resources needed to
help thousands of addicted Nevadans. This settlement comes at a time that
Nevada needs an influx in funds to continue its work addressing the opioids
epidemic, which is particularly important in light of the pandemic that has seen
a resurgence in opioid-related deaths in Nevada.
For over a decade, McKinsey provided guidance,
consulting, and marketing plans to entities involved in manufacturing,
marketing, and selling opioids. McKinsey worked closely with its clients to
assist them with strategy and implementation of their goals. It provided
marketing plans to manufacturers who, in turn, targeted prescribers writing the
most prescriptions, for the most patients, and all for profit. Purdue, for
example, used the information to increase OxyContin sales through physician
targeting and specific messaging to prescribers. McKinsey’s strategies formed
the pillars of Purdue’s sales tactics for at least 15 years. Purdue approved
McKinsey’s plan and strategies, and together with McKinsey, moved to implement
the plan, which significantly increased Purdue’s opioid sales, in particular,
for OxyContin.
But McKinsey’s consultation and marketing
plans developed for opioid manufacturers extended beyond Purdue. Its marketing plans
were used by the country’s largest opioid manufacturers, including Endo,
Johnson & Johnson, and Mallinckrodt, to increase the sale and use of
opioids in Nevada.
Opioids have killed thousands in Nevada,
and they continue to ravage the lives of many more, creating one of the largest
public-health epidemics in the country’s history. Economically, the toll is
equally grim. The opioid crisis has forced Nevada to incur dramatically
increased costs of health and human services, including healthcare, child
welfare, criminal justice, and many other programs needed to remediate the
harms, impact, and risks caused by the opioid epidemic to Nevada and to its
residents.
The consent judgment resolves claims that
McKinsey violated the Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act when it consulted
with, and developed marketing plans for, opioid manufacturers to increase
opioid sales in Nevada. The settlement funds will be used to address harms and
costs associated with the opioid epidemic.
###