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#The Wall Street Journal: McKinsey reaches $573 million settlement with states over its work to boost OxyContin sales

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“#The Wall Street Journal: McKinsey reaches $573 million settlement with states over its work to boost OxyContin sales”

Deal with 47 states would avert civil lawsuits

Consulting giant McKinsey & Co. has reached a $573 million settlement with states over its work advising OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP and other drug manufacturers to aggressively market opioid painkillers, according to people familiar with the matter.

The deal, reached with 47 states and expected to be publicly announced Thursday, would avert civil lawsuits that attorneys general could bring against McKinsey, the people said. The majority of the money will be paid upfront, with the rest dispensed over the next few years.

McKinsey said last week it is cooperating with government agencies on matters related to its past work with opioid manufacturers. The consulting firm stopped doing opioid-related work in 2019 and said in December its work for Purdue was intended to support the legal use of opioids and help patients with legitimate medical needs.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that McKinsey was close to a settlement with states and that a deal could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The negotiations occurred as hundreds of exhibits describing McKinsey’s work to boost OxyContin sales were made public in recent months during Purdue’s chapter 11 bankruptcy case in White Plains, N.Y.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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