Consulting Firm McKinsey Suggested OxyContin Maker Pay Rebates for Overdoses

The consulting firm McKinsey & Company advised members of the Sackler family, the owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, to consider giving the company’s distributors a rebate for every overdose attributable to the pills they sold, according to documents released in a federal bankruptcy court.

McKinsey estimated how many customers of companies including Anthem and CVS might overdose. The consulting firm projected that in 2019, there would be 2,484 CVS customers who would either have an overdose or would develop an opioid use disorder. If CVS were given a rebate of $14,810 per “event,” Purdue would pay CVS $36.8 million that year.

Anthem and CVS have been among McKinsey’s largest clients. Spokespeople for both companies said they never received rebates from Purdue for customers who overdosed on OxyContin, The New York Times reports.

McKinsey has not been charged by the federal government or sued, the article notes.