By: Christopher Parrella, Esq., CPC, CHC, CPCO
Parrella Health Law, Boston, MA
A Health Care Provider Defense and Compliance Firm

For the past two decades, the U.S. health care sector has battled one of the most tragic and costly public health crises in modern history, the opioid epidemic. But a recent sentencing in a federal courthouse in Appalachia serves as a sobering reminder that health care fraud and abuse aren’t just about providers or pharmaceutical manufacturers. This time, the criminal liability hit one of the world’s most prestigious consulting firms.

Martin Elling, a former senior partner at McKinsey & Company, was sentenced last week to six months in prison and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service for obstruction of justice. His crime? Deleting internal records that would have exposed McKinsey’s deeper involvement in promoting OxyContin sales for Purdue Pharma, at a time when the drug was wreaking havoc across the country.

The Department of Justice’s case is crystal clear: this wasn’t an accidental deletion or simple lapse in judgment. In 2018, Elling deliberately sought to eliminate documents and emails as lawsuits against Purdue Pharma escalated. The DOJ’s forensic review of his laptop confirmed the destruction. In a profession built on objectivity, data, and ethics, this level of misconduct is astonishing.

Why This Case Matters for the Health Care Industry

At Parrella Health Law, we represent providers—physicians, medical groups, treatment centers—who understand that documentation, data integrity, and transparency aren’t just best practices—they’re lifelines. The Elling case drives home a message we repeat often to clients: the cover-up is usually worse than the crime.

Let’s be clear: the opioid crisis didn’t unfold overnight. It was sustained through aggressive sales tactics, misleading risk narratives, and a well-oiled network of advisors, marketing strategists, and, yes, consultants who operated in the shadows. McKinsey made nearly $93 million working with Purdue Pharma to “turbocharge” OxyContin sales. At the height of this epidemic, that work had real-world consequences in emergency rooms, addiction centers, and families that turned to health care providers for help.

What Elling did in destroying documents to protect a client relationship was not only unethical but criminal. His sentence may seem light to the families of overdose victims, but it is a red-flag moment for the entire health sector: if you are part of the ecosystem that influences drug marketing, prescribing behavior, or claims submission, you’re fair game for DOJ scrutiny.

DOJ’s Message Is Loud and Clear

This sentencing comes on the heels of other major DOJ actions against consultants, payors, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The DOJ’s white-collar enforcement priorities for 2025 emphasize not just traditional fraud, waste, and abuse, but also obstruction of investigations, concealment of misconduct, and failures of corporate governance.

With the DOJ’s civil and criminal arms now working in tighter coordination with HHS-OIG, the FBI, and whistleblowers, health care professionals and vendors must double down on internal compliance programs—especially around data governance, document retention, and communications regarding government investigations.

Key Takeaways for Health Care Executives and Consultants

• Destruction of evidence = criminal liability. Elling’s conviction wasn’t for opioid fraud itself, but for trying to erase the paper trail.
• Vendors and consultants are not immune. Whether you’re a billing company, management service organization, digital health vendor, or marketing consultant, if your advice influences government health care dollars, your conduct can become a federal case.
• DOJ now expects companies to self-police. McKinsey has since paid over $1.5 billion to resolve government claims and has overhauled its client screening and document retention practices. That’s the new bar.

Final Thoughts

For health care professionals who’ve followed the opioid litigation closely, the Elling sentence is more than a headline. It’s a precedent. No longer can industry advisors hide behind client privilege or strategic ambiguity. The DOJ is watching—and it expects compliance.

If you’re unsure whether your document retention practices, third-party relationships, or crisis response protocols would survive federal scrutiny, now is the time to act.

Contact Parrella Health Law at 857-328-0382 or email Chris directly at cparrella@parrellahealthlaw.com.

We help providers and their partners stay compliant and, when needed, defend them when the stakes are highest.