Thread by @PekingMike

THREAD: McKinsey is settling with 47 states over its work with opioid makers, but there is MUCH more in the settlement. FOLLOW ALONG. By me and @waltbogdanich nytimes.com/2021/02/03/bus…

2/x: So McKinsey isn't admitting wrongdoing, but they are submitting to some big court-ordered changes. First, McKinsey has agreed to stop doing consulting work for pharmaceutical companies for certain types of addictive narcotics.

3/x: McKinsey will also retain emails for five years (that is a really long time for a company) AND will agree to disclose to states if there are conflicts of interest with the work it is bidding on, AND...

4/x: Inspired by the tobacco settlement, the settlement compels McKinsey to make tens of thousands of pages of documents on its work with opioid makers (not just Purdue but others like JNJ, Endo and Mallinckrodt) available in a publicly accessible database.

5/x: The agreement, which will be announced Thursday, covers 47 states, DC and five US territories. The Federal government, three states (WV, WA and NV) are not party and what isn't clear is how many counties and cities can still sue McKinsey.

6/x: The amount McKinsey is paying is without a doubt more than McKinsey EVER made in fees consulting on opioids for these companies. In contrast, members of the Sackler familiy, which owns Purdue Pharma, are so far only paying out a fraction of the billions they drew from Purdue

7/x: It is very rare for McKinsey to actually be held accountable for its work with clients. But recently, McKinsey, Bain and BCG (MBB) have pushed into "implementation" of recommendations. We MAY be seeing here, with McKinsey's Purdue work, how that could put firms in extremis.

8/x: So this settlement has been long in the making. Massachusetts sued Purdue Pharma in 2018, and in the course of discovery, McKinsey's role came out, including the "turbocharge" language. @waltbogdanich and I wrote about it back then.
nytimes.com/2019/02/01/bus…

@waltbogdanich 9/x: Then a lawsuit in Oklahoma showed McKinsey working with J&J on sales of a fentanyl patch. @waltbogdanich wrote about that:
nytimes.com/2019/07/25/bus…

@waltbogdanich 10/x: Last November a raft of new documents about McKinsey's work with Purdue were made public during bankruptcy proceedings for Purdue. These included the slides about offering rebates to pharmacy companies for customers who overdosed or got addicted.
nytimes.com/2020/11/27/bus…

@waltbogdanich 11/x: That was followed by some real anger among McKinsey's staff and alumni, and an apology from the company for its work with the opioid makers.
nytimes.com/2020/12/08/bus…

@waltbogdanich 12/12: Which gets us to the news on the settlement today.
nytimes.com/2021/02/03/bus…