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A volley of lawsuits brought against a management consulting firm for its role in marketing OxyContin amid the opioid crisis will get their own multidistrict litigation in a California federal court.
On Monday, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled that lawsuits about McKinsey & Co.’s role in the opioid crisis — consulting for OxyContin seller Purdue Pharma LP and other drugmakers — would not be added to the existing opioid multidistrict litigation in Ohio.
It said, even though there were factual overlaps between the McKinsey cases and the cases against drug manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies, the management consultant could be prejudiced by joining the 3.5-year-old litigation at such a late stage.
“Adding a relatively unique defendant such as McKinsey to an already exceedingly complex and contentious MDL may hinder the [existing MDL] judge’s ability to efficiently manage the range of cases now before him,” the panel said.
Instead, the 34 pending lawsuits from cities, counties, tribes and individuals against McKinsey would be heard by Judge Charles R. Breyer, the panel ruled.
It said Breyer’s previous experience presiding over the “bellwether remand action” City and County of San Francisco, et al. v. Purdue Pharma, L.P., et al. gave him “granular insight into the federal opioid litigation that few other judges have obtained.”
The centralization of all of the actions against McKinsey in the Northern District of California would best promote the “just and efficient conduct” of the litigation, the panel ruled.
It said the multiple actions involve common factual issues arising from nearly identical questions about McKinsey’s role in providing advice to certain opioid manufacturers, most notably Purdue.
The claims against McKinsey accuse it of public nuisance, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, unjust enrichment and violation of consumer protection statutes, the panel’s order says.
McKinsey provided its services in the form of sales and marketing strategies aimed at increasing sales of prescription opioid drugs. It has already struck more than $573 million in settlements over the claims.
The deal was reached in February with attorneys general in 47 states, five territories and the District of Columbia after legal filings revealed McKinsey was promoting and pushing prescriptions to opioid painkillers.
In addition to paying out a total of $600 million, McKinsey agreed to releasing all its documents relating to the opioid scandal. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich says there are tens of thousands of these internal documents following allegations some of its partners were destroying paper trails.
What do you think of the claims against McKinsey? Let us know in the comments!
The McKinsey Opioid Multidistrict Litigation Decision is In re: McKinsey & Co. Inc., National Prescription Opiate Consultant Litigation, Case No. 2996, in the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
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31 thoughts onOpioid Lawsuits Against Marketing Consultant McKinsey Get Own Multidistrict Litigation
I’m a recovering addict I would love to join this lawsuit
I’ve been addicted to oppiots for 25 years now.14 years on oxy and per.5 years on heroin and 6-7 years Suboxone and methodone
I applyed to this all ready what’s going on
Opiate addiction.
Please add
Had various surgeries on my body that the treatment for pain. The pain was oxy , shoulders , knee replacement and disc in neck. Was in service for about 10 years and injuries caught up to the body that the pain meds were highly prescribe.
Been on Narco and hydrocodenfor nine years,please add me.
20+ years addicted to opiates, 10+ years now on suboxone…im interested in anything that makes these Billionaires pay for ruining my life. thanks, I won’t write add me, that does nothing lol
Please add me I was addicted to oxycontin over 5 years now I’m in rehab and they got me out Suboxone and I lost a lot of family members and lost a lot of stuff that was important in my life over these oxycontins
Please add me I was addicted to oxycontins over 5 years and now I’m in rehab and they got me on suboxones I’ve been to jail over oxycontin and lost a lot of people in my life over that
I was addicted to oxycontin years ago, now I’m addicted to suboxone to get off oxycontin.
Same here. The generic makers that promoted their instant release tabs like the blue 30mg should also be sued. After two back surgeries, fusions, rods and screws in my back I am on 10mg Sub for pain control because Rothman was suppose to do a simple diskectomy and when I woke up my R foot was on fire. They said, “ah don’t worry about it, it will be fine.” 6 months later thank God Temple doc, a superstar and his friend operated on me as my S1 nerve was impinged. My tolerance was so high, like 900mg a day high. ALL of these companies need to be held responsible.