Mark St. Cyr: In opioid crisis, guilty must be held accountable
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You might have heard of Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton’s new Hulu series “Dopesick.” The series follows Keaton’s Dr. Finnix, a doctor coerced by a pharmaceutical salesman to prescribe more opioids to his patients in a rural Virginia mountain town.
Sound familiar?
The series is based on Beth Macy’s 2018 book “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America.” The drug company in question is Purdue Pharma, which has faced months of ongoing litigation for its role in perpetuating and worsening the opioid crisis.
But there is another culprit at play who is just as guilty.
U.S. senators like Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Joe Manchin of West Virginia have turned their sights on McKinsey & Company, one of the world’s largest consulting firms.
Records show that the FDA hired McKinsey & Company multiple times beginning in 2008, paying it more than $140 million. At least 17 of these contracts called for McKinsey to work with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the division of the FDA that approves certain classes of drugs, including opioids.
While working for the FDA, McKinsey also was consulting with opioid manufacturers like Purdue Pharma, helping them avoid FDA regulations. Purdue hired McKinsey when revenues fell after the FDA said its marketing practices for OxyContin were unethical. So, what did McKinsey do? Helped Purdue develop a plan to “turbocharge” opioid sales, targeting high-volume opioid prescribers.
Hundreds of examples of McKinsey’s consulting work to boost OxyContin sales were uncovered during Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy case in New York. Evidence showed efforts to discredit an emotional campaign made by mothers dealing with substance use disorder in teenagers.
Court documents showed shocking and horrifying evidence, including a presentation in which McKinsey advised Purdue on an option to offer rebates to pharmacies for every OxyContin overdose. McKinsey & Company even estimated that about 2,500 CVS customers would overdose or develop substance use disorder in 2019. At $14,810 per rebate, that would be $36.8 million to pay out at the expense of people’s lives.
McKinsey & Company was making millions of dollars working for both sides — a clear conflict of interest. McKinsey doesn’t exactly have a track record of ethicality during health crises. It even helped New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo cover up covid-19 deaths in nursing homes. It’s clear McKinsey will do just about anything to make a pretty penny.
The company recently reached a $537 million settlement with the attorneys general of 47 states and five U.S. territories, which allowed McKinsey to avoid admission of guilt in the opioid crisis.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey negotiated better deals for their states to gain more funding for the prevention and treatment of substance use disorder in their states. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro took the settlement as it was, allowing McKinsey to avoid guilt and get off easy in our state.
Our elected officials need to do more for those who have been affected by the opioid crisis. Volunteer organizations can do only so much; it is a daily struggle to pay bills and keep our doors open.
It’s good to see senators doing the extra work to turn every stone and get answers. Every actor in the opioid crisis needs to be held fully accountable for their actions and be made to pay recompense to prevent and treat the problem they helped create.
Mark St. Cyr is president and treasurer of Club Serenity, a volunteer-led recovery group based in Charleroi (clubserenityinc.com).