Consulting firm McKinsey & Co has agreed to a $78 million settlement to address allegations that its work for drug companies, including Purdue Pharma, contributed to the opioid addiction epidemic in the United States. The settlement, disclosed in court papers filed on Friday in federal court in San Francisco, marks the final resolution of a series of lawsuits faced by McKinsey related to the U.S. opioid crisis.

Plaintiffs, which include U.S. health insurers and benefit plans, accused McKinsey of assisting drug manufacturers in designing deceptive marketing plans and increasing sales of painkillers, such as the widely-known OxyContin produced by Purdue Pharma. The consulting firm has previously paid substantial amounts to resolve claims, including $641.5 million to state attorneys general, $230 million to local governments, and settlements with Native American tribes.

McKinsey, however, did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. In a statement, the firm reiterated its belief that its past work was lawful and highlighted that it ceased advising clients on any opioid-related business in 2019.

According to Paul Geller, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, the drug crisis was caused by an oversupply of dangerous addictive drugs. The purpose of the case, he explained, was to "recover some of the money spent on the over-prescribed pills."

The opioid epidemic has led to numerous lawsuits from states, local governments, and Native American tribes, accusing drug companies of downplaying the risks associated with opioid painkillers, and distributors and pharmacies of neglecting warning signs of illegal trafficking. Thus far, the litigation has resulted in over $50 billion in settlements with drugmakers, distributors, and pharmacy chains.

The gravity of the crisis is evident in the statistics provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recorded approximately 645,000 deaths related to opioid overdoses in the United States between 1999 and 2021.

In a related development, the U.S. Supreme Court recently heard a challenge by President Joe Biden's administration regarding a multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy settlement proposed by Purdue Pharma to address the claims against the drugmaker. The outcome of the case will have significant implications for the accountability and resolution of the opioid epidemic.