Consulting giant McKinsey & Company agreed to a $78 million settlement in a case over its role in advising opioid manufacturers to design misleading marketing campaigns, The Hill reported. A group of U.S. health insurers and company benefit plans, referred to in court documents as third-party payors, alleged in the suit that the firm helped add fuel to the fire in the opioid abuse epidemic by advising drug manufacturers such as Purdue Pharma in crafting deceptive marketing campaigns for opioids. The potential settlement, the agreement to which was filed Friday, still requires a judge’s approval. If presiding judge Charles R. Breyer, district judge for the Northern District of California, signs off on the settlement, McKinsey has two weeks from the approval date to pay $78 million to the plaintiffs by wire. The payment would establish a fund to reimburse third party payors for some or all of their prescription opioid costs. The settlement comes two years after McKinsey paid $573 million to 49 state attorneys general, Washington, D.C. and five territories in a similar case.
