The law firms of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC, Motley Rice LLC, and Browne Pelican PLLC, counsel for plaintiffs in the McKinsey opioids litigation, announce that U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer has granted final approval to a $230 million settlement by McKinsey & Co. over claims that the consulting firm’s marketing work greatly accelerated opioid sales and forced municipal governments to divert public resources to deal with rampant painkiller addiction.

Order Granting Settlement Approval, In re McKinsey & Co. Inc. National Prescription Opiate Consultant Litigation

Order Granting Settlement Approval, In re McKinsey & Co. Inc. National Prescription Opiate Consultant Litigation (Santa Cruz County, et al.)

The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by public governments and school districts, who alleged McKinsey strategized and acted with Purdue Pharma LP and various other opioid manufacturers to create and employ marketing and sales practices to maximize opioid revenues. McKinsey had agreed to the $230 million settlement in September. The settlement is the first to offer monetary restitution specifically for schools.

Various companies have paid more than $50 billion in settlements for making misleading marketing statements that vastly underplayed the addictive quality of opioid pain killers. The U.S. Supreme Court is purportedly considering whether to reverse an appeals court’s decision allowing Purdue’s family owners to dedicate roughly $6 billion to a trust for opioid victims in exchange for protection against civil liability from lawsuits related to opioid marketing.

McKinsey previously agreed to pay $600 million to settle state attorneys general lawsuits seeking to hold its work with the opioid industry accountable. As with the earlier settlements, the money from the new settlement will be distributed to subdivisions and school districts pursuant to established settlement allocation formulas. The schools will receive their monies pursuant to a grant-making trust.

For more information, see https://mckinseyschooldistrictopioidsettlement.com/

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