A former McKinsey & Company partner accused the world of defaming him and making him a “scapegoat” to distract from the firm’s work advising OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and other opioid pain drug makers. sued a consulting firm.
Arnab Ghatak, who was fired in 2021, filed the lawsuit in New York state court on Friday, just two days after it was revealed that McKinsey & Co.’s role in the U.S. opioid epidemic was being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Part of the Justice Department’s investigation concerns whether McKinsey obstructed justice, in connection with McKinsey’s revelation that it fired two partners who had contacted them about removing opioid-related documents. said people familiar with the matter.
One of those partners was Mr. Gartuck, a former McKinsey senior partner and global head of medical affairs.
Ghatak also alleged that McKinsey and its global managing partner Bob Sternfels lied to Congress and the public about his role in wrongfully deleting the emails.
Ghatak said in the lawsuit that when Sternfels testified before a House committee in 2022, both partners were fired for violating document retention policies that Ghatak says don’t even exist.
Rather, Ghatak claims that McKinsey & Co. has fallen victim to an effort to “create a scapegoat as a distraction from decades of work on opioids that does not deter abuse.”
The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from McKinsey and Sternfels, which is also named as a defendant.
A McKinsey spokesperson said the complaint was “completely meaningless.”
A McKinsey spokesperson said: “We terminated him for a serious violation of our professional standards.” “We fully support the decision to fire Dr. Ghatak and our public statements on this matter.”
McKinsey has already filed a wide range of opioid lawsuits and other related legal actions by states, local governments, school districts, Native American tribes, and health insurance companies accusing opioids of contributing to America’s deadly opioid addiction epidemic. has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to settle the issue.
In 2019, McKinsey vowed to no longer advise clients on opioid-related businesses. That same year, the consulting giant’s ties to Purdue Pharma were revealed, along with a trove of documents filed in the drug company’s bankruptcy case at the time.
The files showed McKinsey’s role in advising members of the Sackler family, which owned oxygen maker Purdue Pharma, as opioid deaths rose. The New York Times reported.
Among them: a 2017 study in which McKinsey estimated that 2,484 customers of drug store chain CVS suffered an opioid overdose or became addicted to opioids in 2019, paying them $14,810 in rebates “per incident.” It also included some disturbing presentations.
In 2020, Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to three criminal charges alleging its involvement in the national opioid epidemic. The Federal Communications Commission estimates that more than 560,000 people died in the United States.
McKinsey & Co. announced in 2021 that it would pay nearly $600 million to resolve allegations that Purdue fueled the national opioid crisis by helping promote addictive painkillers.
About $573 million of that money will go to 47 states and the District of Columbia, which will help Purdue’s OxyContin sales “surge” as a dangerous wave of overdoses hits the nation. The White Shoes consulting firm was accused of doing so.
McKinsey admitted no wrongdoing in the civil settlement.
Officials said the agreement is the first multistate opioid settlement that provides “significant payments” to help each state address the drug crisis.
washington state is Separate $13.5 million contract Partnering with McKinsey & Co., West Virginia was also planning an opioid-related announcement.
Comes with post wire.
