What role did McKinsey play in Purdue's OxyContin sales?
McKinsey helped turbocharge OxyContin sales and later paid $573 million to states — then a further $650 million to the Justice Department — in one of the largest consulting-firm enforcement actions in US history.
The consulting firm McKinsey & Company advised Purdue for years. Massachusetts' attorney general said McKinsey helped Purdue focus on higher, more lucrative dosages, increase visits to high-volume prescribers, encourage opioid makers to band together to defend against strict FDA treatment, and use mail-order pharmacies to get around retail restrictions on suspicious high-dose prescriptions. It also designed a plan to "turbocharge" OxyContin sales at the height of the epidemic, and when litigation began, McKinsey partners allegedly discussed deleting documents.
In February 2021 McKinsey agreed to pay $573 million to nearly 50 states and territories, without admitting wrongdoing, and to release tens of thousands of internal documents. In December 2024 it agreed to a further $650 million settlement with the Justice Department over its opioid consulting for Purdue. McKinsey had issued a rare public apology in December 2020.