From Investing.com:

McKinsey & Co has agreed to pay $78 million to resolve claims by U.S. health insurers and benefit plans that it fueled the opioid epidemic. The settlement in federal court in San Francisco marks the last in a series of settlements by McKinsey resolving lawsuits over the U.S. opioid crisis.

Plaintiffs accused McKinsey of contributing to the opioid crisis by helping drug manufacturers design deceptive marketing plans and boost sales of painkillers. McKinsey had previously paid $641.5 million to resolve claims by state attorneys general and another $230 million to resolve claims by local governments.

The class action settlement, which requires a judge’s approval, resolves claims by insurers that provide health and welfare benefits. Thousands of lawsuits have been filed by states, local governments, and Native American tribes accusing drug companies of downplaying the risks of opioid painkillers.

Nearly 645,000 people died in the United States from overdoses involving opioids from 1999 to 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month heard a challenge by President Joe Biden’s administration to Purdue Pharma’s multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy settlement resolving related claims against the drugmaker.



Read more: McKinsey to pay $78 million in US opioid settlement with health plans By Reuters