一 | Global consulting giant McKinsey & Company advised several painkillers producers for 15 years on how to "turbocharge" prescription drug sales largely to blame for starting the opioid epidemic in the US, The New York Times has revealed citing over 100,000 documents.,The docs emerged as a part of a settlement deal that McKinsey signed with several state attorneys that sued the company.,Apart from working with Endo, Purdue, and Mallinckrodt, the company also provided "in-depth experience in narcotics" for Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries producing controlled substances. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of US citizens died from overdose, often linked to these very drugs.,How It All Started,According to the disclosed documents, McKinsey helped both Endo and Purdue, the creators of two of the most widespread opioid-based drugs for severe chronic pain, to launch their products Opana and OxyContin in 2006-2008. The firm even advised one of the companies on how to overcome a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) block which it had encountered in 2008.,The FDA blocked Purdue's attempt to release an upgraded version of its OxyContin, which was more difficult to snort or dilute and inject in bloodstream – two methods of the prescription drug's abuse that already had been devised by some of its recipients. In order to help Purdue get the license, McKinsey interviewed an ex-drug dealer on the medication's abuse, prepared docs and even coached the drug firm's officials for meetings with the FDA as the pharmaceutical company knew its drug had been widely abused, the docs suggest.,Crack Pipes: Biden Administration's Handling of US Opioid Crisis Raising Questions, Journo Says15 February, 13:00 GMT,Purdue's main competitor, Endo, also released a new version of its painkiller and tried to get it marked as resistant to crushing (for snorting) and diluting (for injections), but the FDA did not allow the latter citing lack of such properties. Nonetheless, the drug's release was a success and coincided with a drop in abuse-resistant OxyContin's sales.,This came, however, at a cost of local epidemics of previously unseen blood disorders in several US states in 2012 – patients were found to be anemic and suffered from kidney failure. Many of them admitted to abusing updated Opana – the new formulae indeed discouraged from snorting it, but still allowed injection abuse. However, the same component that prevented crushing took a great toll on those who tried to inject the drug to get a better high, leading to red blood cells' destruction and organ damage.,Going on the 'Offensive',The consulting company's involvement in the opioid crisis did not stop at helping the companies to launch their products – it also helped them to boost the sales.,While the pills like the ones produced by Endo, Purdue and Mallinckrodt were originally advertised as not causing additions, US doctors were not always prone to prescribing them, especially when a patient's pain was neither severe nor chronic. According to the revealed documents, McKinsey's consultants helped Purdue, and several other companies, including two J&J subsidiaries, to overcome this "problem".,Starting in 2009, McKinsey developed a "segmentation" strategy for Purdue: its analysts divided the company's customers into groups based on their potential thoughts of the product and then formed distinct messages for each group. The customers in this case were doctors prescribing painkillers and the product was opioid drugs. The strategy targeted even doctors who resorted to opioids only in most extreme cases, ensuring them of OxyContin's safety and trying to convince them that there was no point in making their patients suffer.,The consulting company proposed to achieve this by "[raising] physician comfort levels through appropriate education and support". Purdue tried to convince these doctors that their colleagues had no issues prescribing OxyContin.,By 2014, the US government started to realize a nascent opioid drug problem was underway and introduced new labeling requirements for such drugs as well as instructions to use them only in cases of severe of chronic pain. Around the same time, OxyContin sales started to decline, prompting Purdue to ask for McKinsey's help once again – this time to overcome the government's policy and precautions.,The consultants identified the problem as the company promoting its drug as a less potent opioid amid rampant drug abuse and advised to shift to the "offense" instead, the documents show. They namely advised focusing the salesmen efforts on doctors, who were likely to prescribe OxyContin to a new client not previously taking opioid drugs.,"Physicians with higher OxyContin NBRx to Rx ratio may be more likely to initiate a patient on OxyContin", an extract from a McKinsey presentation for Purdue from January 2014 said.,Around the same time and amid the 2015 HIV concentrated outbreaks in several states linked to the opioid drugs abuse via injections, McKinsey consulted Endo on promoting its Opana. The company was not concerned about what the CDC named "explosive transmission" of HIV and the Opana's role in it, according to the documents. On the contrary, in summer 2015, it helped Endo rededicate most of its salesmen from other products into a "Sales Force Blitz" – the company almost solely dedicated to selling Opana to around 3,000 physicians in the US.,One of McKinsey's consultants was excited over the creation of the "Force", claiming in correspondence with the head of Endo’s painkiller unit that the "fun [begins] on Monday!" with the latter responding "agreed, the fun is just beginning".,Playing Both Sides,One of the strangest revelations in the documents uncovered by the New York Times is that McKinsey managed to play both sides of the opioid crisis tragedy – helping pharmaceutical companies sell more of "not-so-addiction-resistant" drugs, while also assisting the FDA, other government agencies and state governments, in the fight against the epidemic.,In 2017, the FDA finally decided to pull one of the drugs, the more potent Opana, from the market, but not until it made $844 million in revenue with help from McKinsey and played a role in the deaths of thousands of Americans, considered to be the victims of the opioid epidemic. Paradoxically, the same year, McKinsey Senior Partner Tom Latkovic lamented about doctors prescribing opioid painkillers left and right at a health care conference.,"Why do we continue to prescribe, dispense, pay for opioid prescriptions to people that we know, or at least we could know, have an incredibly high propensity to abuse them?" Latkovic wondered.,The bizarre divergence between what McKinsey was advising to the pharmaceutical companies and Latkovic's rhetoric is explained by the fact that he was not a member of the consulting company's pharmaceutical practice, which worked with pharma.,Instead, he and his team worked with state governments and health systems to pin down the ways of tackling the opioid crisis, The New York Times said citing two local officials, who used to work on the issue. Their work, however, was partly complicated by McKinsey's pharmaceutical wing, which wanted to greenlight their draft publications in case they could damage their clients.,North Carolina Rep. Claims Opioid Crisis 'Affects Every Community' in US Amid Drug Trafficking Surge19 December 2021, 01:36 GMT,Eventually in 2019, McKinsey finally stopped advising its top client, Perdue, but not until their ties became public during one of the litigations related to the opioid epidemic and initiated by US authorities. One such litigation eventually had McKinsey pay $600 million in settlement without admitting guilt, as well as release the documents related to its work with the pharmaceutical companies.。 北京日报记者 孙宏阳 与北京环球影城一路之隔，城市副中心文旅新地标——“湾里”项目迎来重要节点。昨天，北京建筑面积最大的奥特莱斯商业综合体顺利封顶，计划年内完工。
二 | 作为建在张家湾地铁车辆段上的微度假小镇，“湾里”项目汇聚多样业态，将满足不同人群购物休闲娱乐需求，为副中心经济社会发展注入强劲动力。昨天（4月22日），“湾里”项目中的奥莱商业综合体结构封顶。北京日报记者 邓伟摄 三条地铁交会微度假小镇 “湾里”项目由京投公司、首旅集团、北京城建集团三大市属国企联合开发建设，投资超百亿元，总开发规模约50万平方米。该项目是北京新一代TOD示范项目，以公共交通为导向进行综合开发，通俗理解就是“在地铁车辆段上盖房子”。 西侧紧邻环球主题公园，东临东六环主路，“湾里”项目地理位置优越、交通便捷。走出地铁八通线、7号线花庄站，就是项目所在地。未来，S6线开通后，这里将有三条轨道交会。市民游客从地铁出站后，可通过连廊商业街直接进入商场和汀云小镇。
三 | “S6线将连接首都机场、大兴机场和副中心枢纽，京津冀范围内的游客，未来都可通过轨道交通快速直达这座度假小镇，连同环球影城、绿心公园、三大文化建筑等副中心景点，安排三天两晚的度假行程。
四 | ”环汇置业公司总经理助理周路苇介绍，市民从小镇去往环球影城，可以选择坐一站地铁，搭乘摆渡车，或者走过街天桥步行抵达。 丰富业态打造不夜城 登上汀云美术馆露台，可以眺望一路之隔的哈利波特城堡。作为“湾里”项目的展示中心，汀云美术馆已经建成开放，走进馆内，犹如进入洁白无瑕、闪烁光芒的云朵。“云朵”建筑周围，盖在张家湾地铁车辆段上方的汀云小镇已经启动主体结构施工。 未来，这座小镇丰富的业态，将吸引不同人群前来休闲度假。
五 | 周路苇介绍，汀云小镇四大体验中心：科学探索馆、儿童体验馆、LIVEHOUSE、汤泉生活馆，经公开招标顺利完成品牌落位。 其中，科学探索馆将打造北京首家“中国国家地理探索中心”，以中国自然地理科学为底色，融入中生代恐龙元素，让儿童、青少年在沉浸式体验中增长知识。 儿童体验馆将携手法国小王子IP，打造国内首家“小王子主题乐园”，其空间营造及游乐设计灵感，皆源自小王子童话中的故事场景，融汇音乐、艺术、娱乐等元素，为孩子们开启一场小王子魔法世界之旅。 音乐主题馆是汀云小镇打造不夜城的核心引擎，将通过音乐现场、节假日活动、明星互动活动等，带来全新的夜生活社交玩乐体验。 奥莱里“藏”着艺术中心 昨天，“湾里”项目落地区面积最大的单体工程，同时也是北京最大奥莱商业综合体，顺利实现主体结构封顶，将全面展开室内装修、机电和室外幕墙、穹顶等施工。该建筑为钢结构框架形式，地上六层、地下两层，建筑面积近19万平方米，总高36米，钢结构约4万吨。 从沙盘上看，这座以“空中花园”为设计灵感的商场不仅规模宏大，还很有艺术范。
六 | 空中俯瞰，可以看到3号中庭设计了从楼顶倾泻而下的瀑布，水幕高达30米。此外，奥莱商场内还“藏”了一座“湾里艺术中心”，定期举办当代艺术展览，用艺术为商业赋能。 漫步汀云小镇，市民还可随时偶遇大型艺术装置。
七 | “我们购置了一辆1号线老列车，放置在酒店公园里，非常具有年代感，未来有望成为打卡点。”周路苇告诉记者。 “湾里”项目预计2024年底完工，2025年7月具备开业条件，湾里王府井奥莱、湾里诺岚酒店及汀云小镇将广迎海内外游客。
八 | 届时，副中心文化旅游区将迎来新的文旅热门目的地。
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