LI Municipalities And Fire Districts Sue McKinsey Over Opioid Crisis

LONG ISLAND, NY — Long Island townships, villages and fire districts are suing consulting firm McKinsey, accusing the firm of boosting the sales of the opioids that they said led to thousands of New Yorkers' deaths.

The firm was accused of violating state business laws governing deceptive acts and practices, false advertising, negligence, misrepresentation and fraud.

McKinsey did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

The municipalities sustained economic damage because of McKinsey, including treatment costs of those suffering from opioid-related addiction, infants born with opioid-related medical conditions, and law enforcement and public safety response to the opioid epidemic, the lawsuit said.

There has been a rise in prescription opioid sales since the mid-1990s, the lawsuit said, as manufacturers pushed "aggressive sales strategies." There has been a "dramatic rise" in opioid prescriptions in New York, which has resulted in a rise in opioid abuse, dependence, addiction, and overdose deaths, the plaintiffs said.

Prescription opioids kill hundreds of New Yorkers every year, while thousands more suffer from negative health consequences, the lawsuit claims.

"Countless others have had their lives ruined by a friend or family member's addiction or death," the plaintiffs said. "Every community in New York suffers from the opioid crisis of addiction and death."

McKinsey in 2013 began "Turbocharging Purdue's Sales Engine" and increasing OxyContin revenue for Purdue, the lawsuit said. OxyContin is an oxycodone narcotic used to treat moderate to severe pain, but it comes at a high risk of addiction and dependence, according to DrugFree.org. It can cause respiratory distress and death when taken in high doses or when combined with other substances, especially alcohol or other illicit drugs such as heroin or cocaine.

As part of the "Project Turbocharge" recommendations, McKinsey told Purdue that having people visit high-prescribing doctors many times per year increased sales, the lawsuit claims. McKinsey determined that the top half of prescribing physicians "write on average 25 times more scripts per prescriber" than the lower half, the plaintiffs said.

Sales of OxyContin peaked in 2013, the year McKinsey and Purdue implemented "Project Turbocharge," according to the lawsuit. Overall opioid prescriptions had peaked three years earlier, the plaintiffs said.

Purdue eventually stopped marketing the drug in 2018.

Officials from some of the plaintiff municipalities told Newsday that the costs their taxpayers sustained were "substantial," the outlet reported.

There is also a strain on the volunteer system, Nesconset fire district secretary Kevin Zanfardino told Newsday. At the opioid epidemic's height around five years ago, Nesconset firefighters and EMTs responded to roughly six or seven overdose calls a week, though not all were related to opioids, Newsday reported.

“There’s an increase in medical costs for us, as far as Narcan, and there’s fuel costs,” he told Newsday.

Narcan reverses opioid overdoses when used on someone.

McKinsey in 2021 settled opioid claims by 47 states, in addition to Washington D.C. and five United States territories, for $573 million, the New York Times reported.

The plaintiffs are:

• Village of Amityville
• Town of Babylon
• Village of Babylon
• Bellmore Fire District
• Village of Bellport
• Town of Brookhaven
• Brookhaven Ambulance
• Centereach Fire District
• Centerport Fire District
• Town of Clarkstown
• Village of East Hampton
• Village of East Rockaway
• Village of Farmingdale
• Village of Floral Park
• Friendship Engine & Hose Co.
• Village of Garden City
• Village of Great Neck
• Village of Greenport
• Hauppauge Fire District
• Town of Haverstraw
• Garden City Village
• Village of Hempstead
• Hicksville Water District
• Town of Huntington
• Village of Island Park
• Village of Islandia
• Town of Islip
• Islip Terrace Fire District
• Village of Lake Grove
• Village of Lawrence
• Levittown Fire District
• Village of Lindenhurst
• Village of Lloyd Harbor
• City of Long Beach
• Village of Lynbrook
• Village of Massapequa Park
• Medford Volunteer Ambulance
• Melville Fire District
• Merrick Library
• Village of Mill Neck
• Miller Place Fire District
• Village of Millerton
• Mount Sinai Fire District
• Nesconset Fire District
• Village of New Hyde Park
• Village of Nissequogue
• North Patchogue Fire District
• Town of North Hempstead
• North Merrick Fire District
• Village of Northport
• Town of Orangetown
• Town of Oyster Bay
• Village of Patchogue
• Village of Poquott
• Port Washington Water District
• Town of Ramapo
• Ridge Fire District
• Town of Riverhead
• Roslyn Water District
• Village of Saltaire
• Town of Smithtown
• Smithtown Fire District
• South Farmingdale Fire District
• Town of Southampton
• Town of Southold
• St. James Fire District
• Village of Stewart Manor
• Stony Brook Fire District
• Town of Stony Point
• Village of Suffern
• Uniondale Fire Dsitrict
• Village of Valley Stream
• Village of the Branch
• Town of Wappinger Falls
• Village of Wappinger Falls
• Village of Westhampton Dunes
• Village of West Haverstraw
• Village of Westbury