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New York City filed a lawsuit against a consulting firm accused of being a mastermind of the opioid epidemic.
The lawsuit against McKinsey & Company was filed by the city and more than 20 state counties in Suffolk County’s state Supreme Court Tuesday, with plaintiffs claiming “the worst man-made epidemic in history” was due in part to the company’s “major role in crafting and implementing” deceptive marketing strategies to sell addictive prescription pills.
In February, McKinsey agreed to pay nearly $600 million to most US states, including New York, to settle allegations that it fueled the crisis by helping Perdue Pharma sell OxyContin. Months earlier, Perdue pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection with the national epidemic.
McKinsey claimed its prior settlement sheltered it from the lawsuit filed by the city and other local governments, in a statement Tuesday.
“The funds provided by this settlement will be used by the state governments to support communities throughout those states,” the company said, arguing it would defend against lawsuits that “are designed to double-dip on the state settlements.”
Opioids killed nearly a half million Americans between 1999 and 2019, according to the CDC.
With AP wires
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