Connect with us

Business

‘Source Of Profound Regret’: Firm Pays Half Billion Settlement To Avoid Criminal Prosecution For Fueling Opioid Crisis

Published

2 minute read

 

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Adam Pack

A consulting giant that helped fuel the United States’ deadly opioid epidemic agreed to pay a massive settlement to avoid criminal prosecution, according to court papers filed Friday.

McKinsey & Company, an international management consulting firm that advised Purdue Pharma to “turbocharge”  sales of Oxycontin during the height of the opioid crisis, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) that will require the firm to pay a $650 million settlement over five years.

A former senior McKinsey employee also pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge for destroying records detailing the consulting giant’s work for Purdue.

The McKinsey settlement is the latest in a string of lawsuits seeking accountability from corporations and consulting firms for contributing to the opioid crisis.

The epidemic, created in part from the work of Purdue and McKinsey to market OxyContin to millions of Americans, has taken more than 500,000 lives and left a trail of devastation in its wake, particularly in parts of rural America.

“McKinsey schemed with Purdue Pharma to ‘turbocharge’ OxyContin sales during a raging opioid epidemic — an epidemic that continues to decimate families and communities across the nation,” U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy for the District of Massachusetts, who sued McKinsey alongside an attorney for the Western District of Virginia over the firm’s consulting work for Purdue, wrote following the settlement. “Consulting firms like McKinsey should get the message: if the advice you give to companies in boardrooms and PowerPoint presentations aids and abets criminal activity, we will come after you and we will expose the truth.”

“We are deeply sorry for our past client service to Purdue Pharma and the actions of a former partner who deleted documents related to his work for that client,” the consulting firm wrote in a statement following the settlement. “We should have appreciated the harm opioids were causing in our society and we should not have undertaken sales and marketing work for Purdue Pharma. This terrible public health crisis and our past work for opioid manufacturers will always be a source of profound regret for our firm.”

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Business

‘There Are No Sacred Cows’: Charles Payne Predicts DOGE Will Take Bite Out Of Military Industrial Complex

Published on

 

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Harold Hutchison

Fox Business host Charles Payne predicted Monday that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will likely cause a short-term hit to the stock market as companies that sell the Pentagon a “$500 hammer” will “take a hit.”

President-elect Donald Trump named Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as co-chairs of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Nov. 12. Payne said that the committee had “no sacred cows” after discussing the committee’s plan to target federal spending and policies military and health care industries with former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and “America’s Newsroom” co-hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino.

“Here is the way I look at the next Trump 2.0. I look at Trump 2.0 as not necessarily, we’re gonna get everything in the next four years, but we’re gonna put things into place to create prosperity for America that I think could last at least three decades and the key part of this is, look where they’re going – there are no sacred cows,” Payne said. “Look at what they are going after.”

WATCH:

“On Friday, you had legislation to go after the pharmacy benefit managers, right? CVS stock is cratering. Eisenhower warned us about the industrial-military complex. Well, now we’ve got a health insurance industrial complex, we got a healthcare industrial complex, we got a military industrial complex now,” Payne continued. “There are hundreds of billions of dollars floating around and guess what? It’s not necessarily good news for the stock market initially. You know, because, some of these companies that get all of this money and charge us $500 for a hammer and $1,000 for a toilet seat, they may take a hit, but ultimately, it’s better for the country and that means it’s ultimately better for the stock market.”

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa sent Musk and Ramaswamy a seven-page letter in November with suggestions ranging from addressing unused space in buildings owned or leased by the federal government to halting uncommitted spending for COVID relief, with the proposed cuts totaling over $2 trillion.

In April, Republican Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida confronted Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall about the Air Force paying $90,000 for a bag of bushings. The Pentagon also paid $14,000 for a 3D-printed toilet seat and $1,280 for cups, according to a release from Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa.

Ernst released a 60-page report on Dec. 5 that covered findings from Ernst’s investigations into telework since she sent an August 2023 letter to 24 government agencies seeking a review of the issues involved with telecommuting.

Trump reportedly is planning on privatizing the United States Postal Service, which lost $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2024, according to the Washington Post.

Continue Reading

Business

Trudeau BLOWS through his deficit guardrail

Published on

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

By Franco Terrazzano

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is demanding spending cuts after the federal government broke through its own budget guardrail by running massive deficits and wasting $1 billion every week on debt interest charges as outlined in today’s Fall Economic Statement.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went $20 billion over budget with his deficit,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Trudeau said he had a guardrail in place to keep Canada’s finances safe and he just drove the deficit right through it.

“It’s dangerously irresponsible to blow through fiscal guardrails and the federal government needs to hit the brakes on spending immediately.”

The federal government repeatedly promised to keep the 2023-24 deficit within its own fiscal guardrail “at or below $40.1 billion.” However, today’s Fall Economic Statement shows the 2023-24 deficit was $61.9 billion. This year’s deficit is projected to be $48.3 billion.

The debt will total almost $1.3 trillion this year. When Trudeau first became prime minister, the debt was $616 billion. That means the Trudeau government is responsible for doubling the national debt.

Interest charges on the debt will cost taxpayers $53.7 billion this year. For context, the government will spend $52.1 billion through the Canada Health Transfer this year.

“Interest charges on the government credit card are costing taxpayers more than $1 billion every week,” Terrazzano said. “Years of massive deficits mean the government is wasting more money on debt interest charges than it’s sending to the provinces in health transfers.”

Budget 2024 forecasted spending this year to be $534.6 billion, but the Fall Economic Statement now forecasts spending to increase to $539.5 billion.

“Trudeau has lost control of the finances and our kids and grandkids will be paying the price for years to come,” Terrazzano said. “Canadians can’t afford to keep paying for a reckless government in Ottawa. Canadians need our federal government to cut spending and balance the budget.”

Continue Reading

Trending

X