Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a half-billion-dollar multi-state settlement with McKinsey, one of the world's largest consulting companies, related to the marketing of OxyContin.
Paxton's office said the agreement between 47 states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories and McKinsey resulted in a total settlement of $573 million, of which $38.4 million was headed to Texas.
In addition to providing funds to address the opioid crisis, the agreement calls for McKinsey to provide tens of thousands of its internal documents detailing its work for Purdue Pharma and other opioid companies for public disclosure online. McKinsey also agreed to adopt a strict document retention plan and ethics code that all partners must agree to each year.
"This settlement is the result of ongoing, aggressive action to hold opioid manufacturers and marketers accountable for their deceptive advertisement of highly-addictive pain pills, which spurred an epidemic that left victims and their families with unimaginable consequences. Prescription opioids continue to kill over a thousand Texans every year, and thousands more suffer from health consequences or the addiction or death of a beloved family member," said Paxton said.
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Paxton said Texas will not allow any more lives to be affected by dangerous medical practices.
"Texas will not stand by as countless lives are affected by misleading marketing and dangerous prescriptions. I will continue to do everything I can to protect Texans and help our state heal from this crisis."
McKinsey has provided consulting services to opioid companies, including selling deceptive marketing plans, programs, and advisement to OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma for more than 15 years.
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In 2017, Paxton and a bipartisan coalition of 40 states served investigative subpoenas on eight companies that manufacture or distribute highly addictive painkillers.
Since then, Paxton also initiated lawsuits against both Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson for misleading marketing and sale of opioids.
