Hello Valley Patriot Readers,
This past February, the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. settled a lawsuit brought by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and 46 other state Attorneys General after admitting to their role in helping pharmaceutical companies, including Purdue Pharma, bolster the sale of opioids like Oxycontin to increase profits.
The settlement, which saw McKinsey pay out $573 million for its involvement in the opioid crisis, came on the heels of a series of lawsuits that showed how McKinsey worked tirelessly to drive sales of Oxycontin, even after Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty in 2007 to federal criminal charges that it had misled doctors and regulators about Oxycontin’s risks. Over the past two decades, more than 450,000 U.S. citizens have died from opioid overdoses.
Yet, despite this company’s proven record of violating the public trust, the Governor’s Administration recently tasked McKinsey with conducting a report to assess the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on work behavior. This came on the heels of the Administration earlier providing funds to the firm for consultation on the state’s pandemic response. In total, Massachusetts taxpayers have given McKinsey nearly $19 million since the start of 2020.
In response to the Administration’s continued relationship with McKinsey, I, alongside State Senator Anne Gobi, recently wrote to Governor Baker, requesting he immediately stop expending taxpayer dollars on a company that played a significant role in perpetuating the opioid epidemic.
It is truly unconscionable that the Administration would reward McKinsey with additional state contracts after all of the pain they have inflicted upon families in Massachusetts and across the country. That they have been tasked with the preparation of critical reports on COVID-19 metrics is all the more confounding.
It is imperative that the Administration end its relationship with this notorious firm as soon as possible and I will not stop advocating until these ties are finally severed.
If you have any questions on this or any other issue, please feel free to contact me anytime via email at Diana.Dizoglio@masenate.gov or phone at 978-984-7747.
Yours in service, Diana ◊