McKinsey & Co. to pay $650M to settle opioid consulting probe, ex-partner to plead guilty
Kevin Breuninger, CNBC
The McKinsey & Company logo at Mobile World Congress in Spain, on .Feb. 27, 2024.
McKinsey & Company agreed to pay $650 million in a deferred prosecution agreement that will resolve a federal criminal probe into the company’s consulting work advising Purdue Pharma on how to increase sales of its opioid painkiller OxyContin, a court filing said Friday.
A former top partner at McKinsey, Martin Elling, also agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice next month in the probe by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a filing in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia.
The criminal charging document that McKinsey agreed to have filed by prosecutors alleges the consulting giant “knowingly and intentionally” conspired with Purdue Pharma “and others to aid and abet the misbranding of prescription drugs.”
The document also said McKinsey is accused, through the acts of its then-partner Elling, of “knowingly destroying and concealing records and documents with the intent” to impede the investigation by the Department of Justice.
McKinsey, which previously agreed to pay almost $1 billion to settle lawsuits by states, local governments and others related to its opioid consulting, accepted responsibility for the conduct alleged by federal prosecutors, according to the deferred prosecution agreement.
CNBC has requested comment from McKinsey.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The family of Ellie Young, the medical student who was shot and killed at Shelby Farms, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her accused killer and ex-boyfriend Jackson Hopper.
Young, a student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, was shot to death after a breast cancer walk at Shelby Farms Park in October. 27-year-old Hopper took law enforcement on a multi-county chase before he was taken into custody and charged with her murder.
He was later indicted on First Degree Murder and is currently being held without bond. During his last court appearance in November, Hopper temporarily waived his bond hearing.
Nearly two months after the killing, Young’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the alleged shooter and his mother, Martha Hopper.
The Young family claims in the lawsuit that Hopper’s mother was aware of her son’s “prior violent tendencies” and she lied to Ellie’s family when they expressed concerns that Hopper was “posing a dangerous threat to Ellie.”
The lawsuit states that Martha Hopper also knew that her son had “engaged in similar dangerous conduct with other girlfriends” and allegedly failed to inform Ellie’s family when they told her they were going to get a restraining order against Hopper, “because of his assaultive behavior,” and out of fear that his violence would escalate.
A restraining order was never attained, but the lawsuit says the Young family discussed it after Hopper became “aggressive,” and “controlling,” toward Ellie in the months prior to her death, eventually leading to Ellie ending the relationship with Hopper.
They claim Martha Hopper discouraged them from getting a restraining order and assured them that Jackson would never hurt Ellie. However, the Young family says they believe she made these statements to protect her son from criminal charges.
“Ellie and her family relied on Martha Hopper’s statements to their detriment and decided to not ask a judge for an order of protection against Jackson Hopper based on false assurances of Martha Hopper,” said the lawsuit.
Ellie’s family filed the wrongful death lawsuit as a result, believing that if Hopper’s mother had informed them of his violent past, a restraining order would have been filed, and Ellie would be alive.
“As a foreseeable result of the wrongful conduct of the Defendants… Ellie experienced extreme pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of future earnings, loss of the enjoyment of life, and loss of life,” said the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also states that the Young family is concerned Hopper may try to use the funds they claim he recently inherited to make bond and flee the county “to avoid prosecution for his heinous acts.”
The family claims he inherited a significant amount of property in Lake County, Tennessee, and “perhaps in other counties as well,” after his grandfather died. He allegedly sold part or all of his interest in the property to his uncle for over $3 million in April of this year.
In the lawsuit, the Young family says they wish for the judge to keep Hopper from spending any of the money from the inheritance on anything other than “ordinary living expenses.”
They also asked that this request be extended to Hopper’s mother, to whom he allegedly transferred money from the sale of the inherited property.
According to the lawsuit, the Young family believes Martha Hopper will assist her son in hiding and/or spending assets at his request, and fears that she may already have done so.
The Young family is asking for $10 million in compensatory damages from the Hoppers.
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Florida woman charged with threatening health insurance company with 'delay, deny, depose'
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman has been charged with threatening her health insurance provider during a phone conversation after police say she uttered the same words found on the bullet casings used in the killing of an insurance executive in New York.
Briana Boston, 42, told a representative of Blue Cross Blue Shield, “Delay, deny, depose. You people are next” as they ended a phone call Tuesday in which she unsuccessfully challenged the company's denial of her insurance claim, Lakeland police say a recording shows.
The words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the casings left at the scene of the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City street on Dec. 4. The words reflect the “delay, deny, defend” strategy some insurance companies use in dealing with expensive claims: Delay the decision, deny the claim and aggressively defend themselves.
Luigi Mangione, 26, is charged with murder in Thompson's killing.
According to police, when Boston was questioned by officers Wednesday, she told them she used the words because “it is what is in the news right now.” She told officers she owns no guns and is accused of adding that insurance companies “are evil” and “deserve karma.”
Boston was arrested and charged with threatening to conduct an act of terrorism. She was being held without bail Friday at the Polk County jail. Court records do not show whether she has an attorney, and a phone listing at her home address was disconnected.
The charge is a second-degree felony, which could be punished by up to 15 years in prison if she is convicted.
Texas sues DuPont, 3M over ‘forever chemicals’ in consumer products
Texas sues DuPont, 3M over ‘forever chemicals’ in consumer products
(The Hill) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is suing companies that have historically made toxic “forever chemicals,” commonly referred to as PFAS, or products that contain them, alleging false advertising over their safety.
Paxton, in his lawsuit, alleged that DuPont’s Teflon and 3M’s Scotchgard were among products that the companies sold to Texans while concealing “substantial risks from consumers and the State.”
“Defendants marketed products containing harmful PFAS chemicals for over 70 years and were aware of the harmful effects of PFAS chemicals for over 50 years,” the lawsuit said.
“Despite this knowledge, Defendants continued to market PFAS products and chemicals in Texas and elsewhere as safe for consumer use, misrepresent their environmental and biological risks, and conceal risks of harm from the public,” it continued.
PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, is the name of a family of chemicals that have been widely used in a range of consumer products including nonstick pans and waterproof clothing and cosmetics.
The substances have also been linked to a range of health issues including cancers, and issues with the thyroid, immune system and fertility.
They are sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they persist for a very long time in the environment instead of breaking down. They have become pervasive in land and water, and are estimated to be in the blood of virtually every American.
In filing the suit, Texas joins a chorus of other states — red and blue alike — in filing suits over the chemicals. Some of these suits have alleged false advertising, while others have sought compensation for alleged contamination.
But, as a broad center of Republican politics, Texas’s suit is significant.
DuPont spun off its division that makes PFAS-containing products in 2015. In 2017, the company merged with Dow, though they later split — and created another company called Corteva that contained some assets from both firms — in 2019.
As a result, the company that today goes by DuPont claims it is not the same company as the one that historically manufactured Teflon and other PFAS-containing products.
In response to the lawsuit, DuPont spokesperson Dan Turner said “DuPont de Nemours has never manufactured PFOA or PFOS,” referring to two particularly toxic and relatively well-studied types of PFAS.
“While we don’t comment on litigation matters, we believe this complaint is without merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending our record of safety, health and environmental stewardship,” Turner said in an email.
The Hill has reached out to spokespeople for 3M and Corteva, which were also sued by Texas.
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