This is a story you've probably only heard of tangentially, through the media coverage of the opioid crisis. But it's worth paying attention to, because there are a lot of things at play, especially since the company in question -- global consulting firm McKinsey & Company -- want to play a part in the Trump administration.
McKinsey & Company just agreed to pay the government $650 million to avoid criminal prosecution for the company's role in helping Purdue Pharma market the opioid pain med Oxycontin to patients, fueling a drug epidemic that continues to this day (and one that makes it hard for actual pain patients to get adequate pain management).
DOJ just let McKinsey avoid criminal charges for colluding with Purdue Pharma to unleash the opioid epidemic. McKinsey will now try to sneak into the Trump Admin
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
— but should a company that turbocharged an epidemic, lied about its work in China, & more be let in? Let’s explore.🧵 pic.twitter.com/EdcT9XcYTk
Like we said, it goes much deeper than pain meds.
After Biden DOJ let them off the hook for opioid scandal, should Trump DOJ consider charges vs. McKinsey for working with CCP while advising the DOD & IC? McKinsey’s pattern of bad behavior during opioid crisis appears to be repeating with U.S. national security implications. 2/x pic.twitter.com/JcCYSYMRVy
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
In a word, yes.
Charges.
(I’ll get into all this in the thread, but beyond lying re: China work & colluding w/ Big Pharma during the opioid epidemic— while profiting off of pushing painkillers to vets while working with VA— McKinsey consults w/ fed agencies & pushed DEI into gov’t & orgs nationwide!) 3/x pic.twitter.com/Uue6UOh4tM
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Oh, great.
DEI.
Note: @ElonMusk said McKinsey lied about the benefits of leftwing DEI policies the company pushed into the government & orgs nationwide, & @VivekGRamaswamy called McKinsey out for its secret work for the CCP, so maybe all these McKinsey contracts should be reviewed by @DOGE? 4/x pic.twitter.com/gDK9B7nd5c
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Is anyone surprised they lied?
Okay, let’s dive into Biden DOJ letting McKinsey off the hook for its role in the opioid epidemic weeks before Trump takes office. Press release spins it as a tough move (there’s a fine after all) but facts of the case show it would’ve been an easy prosecution & conviction.🤷♂️ 5/x pic.twitter.com/89AP5Ez87j
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
We thought no one was above the law.
This unleashed a lot of government regulations into the prescription of opioids. This writer's mother used to get hundreds of pain pills (with refills!) before those laws took effect. This writer also worked in hospice, and -- thanks to government regulations -- getting pain meds for hospice patients was also a challenge.
Biden DOJ announced this in a Friday news dump, but happy Monday — we’re still talking about it! DOJ gifted McKinsey a 5-year deferred prosecution agreement for felony destruction of records to obstruct an & a misdemeanor for conspiring with Purdue to improperly sell opioids. 6/x pic.twitter.com/jDptxVvy4J
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Just maddening.
The 71-page Agreed Statement of Facts details how McKinsey conspired with Purdue Pharma for years to turbocharge the opioid epidemic by flooding the United States w/ OxyContin. McKinsey made millions & millions of dollars from the scheme as U.S. painkiller abuse skyrocketed. 7/x pic.twitter.com/7QFP6CZWZT
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Weird how the 'we hate CEOs and big corporations' crowd is kinda silent on this, too, huh?
Sen. Hawley’s response to this sweetheart deal was correct — the Biden DOJ is letting McKinsey get off with a monetary slap on the wrist for their lucrative consultancy role exacerbating the opioid epidemic (which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans). 8/x pic.twitter.com/EvUQnWsRXC
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
A slap on the wrist is putting it mildly.
This wasn't even that.
“Much has been disclosed over the years on McKinsey’s relationship w/ Purdue Pharma... But the NYT found the firm played a far deeper & broader role advising clients involved in the opioid crisis than was publicly disclosed.” So why is McKinsey still doing work with the feds? 9/x pic.twitter.com/1wPPpDTBXD
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Excellent question. Why are they still working with the feds?
McKinsey has faced increased scrutiny for its clear conflicts of interest involving its work with the Department of Veterans Affairs while the consulting company was simultaneously advising opioid manufacturers — McKinsey profited bigly by pushing painkillers to warfighters. 10/x pic.twitter.com/rmZ1Uf6aUH
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Shameful.
“McKinsey Never Told the FDA It Was Working for Opioid Makers While Also Working for the Agency. The consulting giant was helping Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson fend off FDA regulations even as it helped shape FDA drug policy.” Again, how is this in any way acceptable? 11/x pic.twitter.com/3HLloCHTk9
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
This should not be acceptable.
Lawmakers: “It has become increasingly clear that McKinsey’s unprecedented access to VA decision-making… allowed them to exploit their consulting contracts to the benefit of their opioid manufacturer clients and to the detriment of many veterans suffering from injuries…” 12/x pic.twitter.com/LgwVNJRdHd
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
How did the FDA not know?
“Since at least 2009, McKinsey & Co. has been a consultant to the Department of Veterans Affairs...During part of that time, the consulting giant also advised some of the world’s biggest opioid producers to target the agency for sales of their products.” Pretty big conflict! 13/x pic.twitter.com/4ppkXL7hKc
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
HUGE conflict.
Rubio: “No entity involved in the proliferation of opioids should be advising the VA on vital projects impacting how & when veterans receive healthcare. An entity like McKinsey that touted its relationship w/ the VA to make a profit shouldn’t be allowed to receive VA money.” 14/x pic.twitter.com/8qsYmcgBhQ
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Rubio is correct.
So McKinsey must pay a fine but is getting criminal amnesty (just before Trump takes office) for its big role exacerbating the deadly opioid epidemic. But McKinsey still does sweeping & lucrative consulting across government (DOD, the IC, etc) & lied about its work in China! 15/x pic.twitter.com/HjXnqtt0Y7
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Trump needs to cut that access off day one.
Rubio, Ernst, & Moolenaar this year: “It’s deeply disturbing that McKinsey, which has a history of undermining the interests of the U.S. government in favor of another client, engaged in sensitive government contracts with DOD while failing to disclose its work with China.” 16/x pic.twitter.com/p7Y3IB5IM2
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Congress controls the purse strings. End the money to McKinsey.
The lawmakers wrote to Austin & Garland detailing McKinsey’s work in China helping the CCP, calling McKinsey out for lying to Congress, & asking for investigations into McKinsey’s lies & a review of its federal contracts. Maybe @PeteHegseth & @PamBondi can pick up the baton. 17/x pic.twitter.com/NKfFFec1De
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Here's hoping Hegseth and Bondi do pick it up and run with it.
Hawley: “Why should you get any contracts from the U.S. government? If you’re going to advise foreign nations that are hostile to us & make gobs of money off of them, why should you be getting U.S. government contracts?”
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
McKinsey: **Evasion Ensues** 18/xpic.twitter.com/RX3exbASvA
All sorts of evasion.
“Urban China Initiative’s book — with a foreword by one of McKinsey’s most senior partners in China & drawing on work by McKinsey’s in-house research arm — formed part of the Chinese government’s research for its 13th Five-Year Plan [including the Made in China initiative].” 19/x pic.twitter.com/g7cwBRjt8w
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
The Chinese ties are inexcusable.
.@MarcoRubio & @HawleyMO: “Your company’s inability to come clean about its dealings with the PRC disqualifies it from future work with the U.S. government — a government your company has worked to undermine… at the behest of our nation’s primary geopolitical adversary.” 20/x pic.twitter.com/b40HFx2Pib
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2024
Let's pull the contracts.
The thread continues, and it's worth reading all of it, because McKinsey & Company is no good, and Donald Trump should sever its ties with the government.
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