California assemblyman and veteran calls out those profiting from opioid addiction | Opinion

After serving two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army, I returned home with a Purple Heart. But I was struggling with the same mental health challenges that many veterans face. I was prescribed a cocktail of opioids and other sedatives — effectively trading my firearm for a pillbox — and then sent on my merry way.

I recently learned that there were nefarious reasons behind what has become the opioid epidemic; reasons deeply mired in greed.

That epidemic is no longer avoidable in this country. We see billboards for Narcan, a lifesaving drug for opioid overdoses, and constant news articles about fatal overdoses almost every day. But what was the intention behind large pharmaceutical companies planning and executing this epidemic? Profit.

Opinion

This is unacceptable to me and to the veteran community. We did not go to war for this.

Some companies, such as Purdue Pharma, have filed for bankruptcy since getting hit with lawsuits. But the large consulting firm that was heavily behind the scenes has not.

That firm is McKinsey & Co., and they are responsible for the aggressive sales tactics that have hooked millions of Americans on opioids, including many of my fellow soldiers returning from war. McKinsey’s clients include opioid makers Purdue Pharma, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson and Mallinckrodt.

At war, we know who our enemy was. Back home, we didn’t expect our enemy to be among our own. We are outraged that a firm like McKinsey has turned on those who protected their freedom for their own profit.

The Wall Street Journal recently published a report revealing how selfish pharmaceutical companies have targeted one specific group: American veterans.

Dating back to 2003, law enforcement, government agencies and regulators were aware of the effects of opioids and warned about the consequences of the aggressive sales tactics opioid producers were taking. The main culprit of these odious tactics was McKinsey, which held many of the contracts with opioid-producing companies in America.

After putting their lives on the line and spending years on the battlefield, war veterans return home having to adjust to both physical and mental hardships. Many of us veterans rely on the health-care system, including the Veterans Administration, for help. Yet we have been prescribed addictive opioid medications to cope with the aftermath of war.

At one point, nine out of every 10 opioid prescriptions in the United States were manufactured by McKinsey’s clients.

The report by the Wall Street Journal found that within those vulnerable target populations was the VA.

“(McKinsey) advised opioid companies including Purdue Pharma LP and Endo International PLC on how to increase sales to the VA through both new and existing channels,” the documents state. “Meanwhile, McKinsey earned at least $117 million consulting for the VA, primarily on matters related to health-care services for veterans.”

The greed of companies such as McKinsey affects communities like ours in California, where opioid-related deaths spiked 121% between 2019 and 2021.

Furthermore, the state of California continues to contract with McKinsey in agencies throughout our government, including Health and Human Services, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Social Services. We are, unabashedly, paying the same companies that wrote the playbook on how to get American veterans addicted to opioids.

We finally have proof that the greed fueling this epidemic is no longer a theory. Billions of taxpayer dollars from the Pentagon and the Department of Veteran Affairs are exploited every year because selfish companies want their pharmaceutical clients to profit off the veteran population.

Fortunately, Americans are fighting back alongside elected representatives assisting in this fight. A group of colleagues and I are seeking to hold drug peddlers accountable by increasing criminal penalties for those who drive this poison into our communities. That fervor should be extended to those who aid and abet companies to push opioids in our community, including McKinsey.

My fight began 20 years ago in Iraq and it continues today. My colleagues — California’s elected leaders — must come together to send the message that McKinsey and any other greedy companies will be held accountable for exploiting our veterans for profit and never collect another Californian tax dollar.

We have high standards for our military, making us the greatest in the world. Our mission is not accomplished until big pharma and companies like McKinsey are held to the same standard of accountability that our military members hold themselves to.

Republican Assemblymember Devon J. Mathis represents the 33rd Assembly District, which includes the communities of Tulare, Kings and Fresno counties.