Blumenthal, Schatz Urge Attorney General to Investigate McKinsey's Role in Fueling Opioid Epidemic

[WASHINGTON, DC] — Today, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) urged United States Attorney General Merrick Garland to open an investigation into McKinsey & Company’s role in promoting the sale of OxyContin and contributing to the opioid epidemic.

“It is critical that McKinsey, which has demonstrated a disconcerting indifference toward the well-being of America’s families, is also held fully accountable for its role in this crisis,” wrote the senators in a letter to Attorney General Garland. “We urge the Department of Justice to thoroughly investigate McKinsey’s work with Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers to determine if McKinsey also participated in or aided and abetted any criminal wrongdoing."

Over a 15-year client relationship, McKinsey advised drugmaker Purdue Pharma on how to boost sales of OxyContin. Their proposed tactics included targeting high-volume opioid prescribers and patients, as well as offering distributors a rebate for every OxyContin overdose. These tactics helped fuel an opioid epidemic that has killed more than 400,000 Americans in the last two decades.

McKinsey recently reached settlements with 49 state attorney generals, five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia for a total of nearly $600 million to resolve state-level investigations into its work on OxyContin. However, recent reporting suggests that McKinsey may stand to gain financial benefits from these settlements through indirect stakes held by McKinsey’s hedge fund affiliate in addiction centers and overdose treatments.

Schatz and Blumenthal are now calling on the federal Justice Department to investigate McKinsey’s role and potential criminal wrong-doing in contributing to the opioid epidemic.

The full text of the letter is available here.

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