Seattle is suing marketing firm over opioid crisis

Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison is suing McKinsey & Co., a firm that worked with opioid producers Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson.

McKinsey and Co. worked as a consulting firm for the pharmaceutical companies as they marketed opioid drugs like OxyContin, starting in 2007.

Seattle filed its lawsuit on Oct. 31. The city argues that the firm played a significant role in promoting the drug and misleading the public about its safety with "aggressive and deceptive marketing."

According to Seattle's City Attorney's Office, the work McKinsey did "exacerbated our city's homelessness and mental health crises, and wrought havoc on communities across Seattle."

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"The opioid crisis in Seattle is responsible for hundreds of deaths every year, so many of which are among our city’s most vulnerable, and often overlooked populations," Davison said in a statement. "We can never bring back the loved ones lost to addiction and overdose, but with this lawsuit, we are taking another step towards holding the people who fueled this crisis accountable.”

The city attorney blames the rise in illegal opiates, such as heroin and fentanyl, on the preceding rise in prescription opioids.

Davison's office also notes that the city of Seattle has spent millions of dollars as a result of the opioid epidemic, pointing to a three-month period in 2017, when Seattle spent $906,000 for its fire department to respond to 453 calls for opioid-related emergencies. The attorney's office also argues that Seattle spent $800,000 to clean up homeless encampments that same year, "nearly all of which contained hypodermic needles used to inject opioids."

Seattle's lawsuit comes less than a month after other cities, such as Portland and Philadelphia also sued McKinsey and Co. for its role in the opioid crisis.

Seattle also sued Purdue Pharma in 2017 over the opioid crisis and received a $183 million settlement.

“Opioid addiction is one of the most pressing issues facing our society today," Davison said. "In addition to the significant harm it is doing to individual lives, it is also contributing to the increase in misdemeanor crime. We cannot meaningfully address public safety in our city if we do not also address the impact that opioids like heroin and fentanyl are having in our communities.”

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