Nevada AG: $45 million settlement in opioids lawsuit

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced a settlement with a major consulting firm over its role in the state’s opioid epidemic.

Ford announced a $45 million settlement for Nevada with consulting firm McKinsey &Company Inc. United States at a Monday virtual press conference. McKinsey &Company Inc. advised opioid manufacturers, including OxyContin, to make Purdue Pharma, for over a decade to maximize profits, which included targeting high-volume prescribers and using specific messaging to get physicians to prescribe more opioids to patients.

“The devastation caused by the opioid epidemic affects us all,” said Ford. “It’s felt by every mother and father who have lost a child. It’s felt by siblings who have lost a sister or brother. And it’s felt by friends and colleagues who lost one of their own. My Bureau of Consumer Protection has fought on behalf of each of you, and we’re proud of the results of today’s settlement.”

Ford said that, “Nevada is a hardest hit state by the opioid crisis and is owed a great deal of compensation and justice.”

The settlement funds to the state will go toward addressing harms and costs associated with the opioid epidemic.

McKinsey

McKinsey is resolved from claims that it violated the Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act for consulting and developing marketing for opioid manufacturers to increase opioid sale in the state under the consent judgment.

“I applaud McKinsey’s decision to step forward to address the opioid crisis and the particular devastation it caused here in Nevada,” Ford said. “McKinsey was the first company to work with our sister states to fix the problem, rather than engage in protracted litigation or delay, and I am pleased that McKinsey was willing to do the same with Nevada. McKinsey’s willingness to settle with Nevada, along with sister states, will help focus our energy on addressing the problem.”

McKinsey’s consultation and marketing plans developed for opioid manufacturers included Purdue, along with other major manufacturers that included Endo, Johnson &Johnson, and Mallinckrodt. The plans were developed to increase the sale and use of opioids in Nevada, according to a release from Ford’s office.

McKinsey worked for over a decade with companies such as Purdue.

“McKinsey worked closely with its clients to assist them with strategy and implementation of their goals,” Ford’s release states. “It provided marketing plans to manufacturers who, in turn, targeted prescribers writing the most prescriptions, for the most patients, and all for profit.”

Ford’s office used Purdue as an example of the practices, where the company used the information to increase OxyContin sales through physician targeting and specific messaging to prescribers.

Purdue implemented McKinsey’s plan and strategies for at least 15 years, which significantly increased Purdue’s opioid sales for OxyContin, according to Ford.

Ford breaks from multistate settlement

Ford broke away from a multistate settlement with McKinsey and pursued separate talks with the consultancy firm. Ford said he broke away from that settlement due to Nevada’s unique position in the way it’s been severely impacted by the opioid crisis, the unique legal rights granted to Nevada’s attorney general and the status of pending litigation against opioid manufacturers, distributors, pharmacists and individuals.

Nevada was uniquely impacted because it has been one of the hardest hit states hit by the opioid epidemic and continues to be. Thousands of Nevadans have died due to opioids in Nevada, and state resources were, and continue to be, heavily impacted by the crisis.

“The opioid crisis has forced Nevada to incur dramatically increased costs of health and human services, including health care, child welfare, criminal justice, and many other programs needed to remediate the harms, impact, and risks caused by the opioid epidemic to Nevada and to its residents,” a statement from Ford’s office reads.

Ford’s office states, “This settlement comes at a time that Nevada needs an influx in funds to continue its work addressing the opioid epidemic, which is particularly important in light of the pandemic that has seen a resurgence in opioid-related deaths in Nevada.”

Contact Editor Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com