End Substance Use Disorder Statement on FDA Conflict of Interest with Consulting Firm McKinsey in Relation to the Opioid Overdose Crisis

Today, U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking for information about the agency’s past work with McKinsey & Company, a consulting firm that led Purdue Pharma’s strategy in increasing sales for Oxycontin. End Substance Use Disorder released the following statement:

“Our government’s sacred responsibility is to protect its citizens from harm, not boost corporate profits,” said Erin Schanning, president of End Substance Use Disorder. “The Food and Drug Administration engaged a private consulting firm that was working for Purdue Pharma to help guide the agency’s approval of prescription opioids, including Oxycontin. This conflict of interest represents a lethal failure of our government to serve and protect our families. We applaud this bipartisan group of Senators for demanding answers on this troubling relationship.”

McKinsey & Company has recently settled claims with 49 state Attorneys General that it fueled the opioid overdose crisis by advising Purdue Pharma on how to boost sales of Oxycontin. McKinsey was also advising opioid manufacturers and distributors such as Johnson & Johnson, Mallinckrodt, Endo International, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, and Cardinal Health, including counseling companies on how to avoid FDA oversight.

At the same time of these engagements, the FDA had hired McKinsey to advise its division on the approval of prescription opioids, awarding the consulting firm more than $140 million in contracts.