McKinsey and JPMorgan drop Purdue Pharma as consulting and banking client
- McKinsey and JPMorgan Chase have dropped Purdue Pharma as a client this week, with McKinsey swearing off further consulting work on opioids.
- Major museums have rejected future contributions from the Sackler family, who founded Purdue.
- The maker of OxyContin faces about 2,000 lawsuits from cities, states and counties over its alleged role in fostering drug addiction.
Some of America's largest companies are cutting ties with Purdue Pharma as the maker of OxyContin deals with growing fallout over its role in perpetuating the opioid crisis.
Consulting giant McKinsey and Co. dropped Purdue Pharma as a client this week, according to Bloomberg. McKinsey also said it has stopped all consulting work for makers of opioids, the news organization reported. In a statement to Bloomberg, the company said, "We are no longer advising clients on any opioid-specific business and are continuing to support key stakeholders working to combat the crisis." McKinsey count not immediately be reached for comment.
The consulting firm created a marketing plan with Purdue that aimed to boost OxyContin sales by up to $400 million, according to a lawsuit filed against Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue by the Massachusetts attorney general.
It's the latest company to cut ties with Purdue, which is facing about 2,000 lawsuits from cities, states and counties over its role in the opioid epidemic. Purdue and its founding family, the Sacklers, recently reached a $270 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma that included funding a $200 million addiction studies and treatment center at Oklahoma State University in Tulda.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that JP Morgan Chase, which previously managed cash and bill payments for Purdue, dropped the drugmaker as a client. JP Morgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank by assets, cited the risk to its reputation in continuing to work with Purdue.
Purdue's founding Sackler family also has been under scrutiny by institutions that have benfited from their private philanthropy. New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, as well as the Tate Modern in London, have all said they will no longer accept donations from the family, who donate to many philanthropic causes and whose worth is estimated at about $13 billion.
Nearly 400,000 people have died from a drug overdose over the last two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
