Global consulting firm McKinsey will pay $573 million to US states to settle claims that the company's advice to pharmaceutical giants contributed to the deadly opioid crisis, the New York attorney general said on Thursday.

"Under the terms of today's agreement, the company will finally end its illegal conduct, deliver more than half a billion dollars into communities across the nation and will never be able to help perpetrate this type of fraud and deception again," Attorney General Letitia James said.

The settlement, which was reached with 47 states, five territories and the District of Columbia, requires McKinsey to stop advising companies on certain narcotics and implement a strict ethics code.

However, the company does not admit guilt in the settlement, which will allow it to avoid the possibility of civil suits.

Almost half a million Americans died in overdoses from both prescription and illegal opioids between 1999 and 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

McKinsey worked with Perdue Pharma -- which last year pleaded guilty to criminal charges over the production and sale of prescription opioid OxyContin -- advising the firm how to "turbocharge the sales engine" of the drug, according to a Massachusetts lawsuit.

"McKinsey's cynical and calculated marketing tactics helped fuel the opioid crisis by helping Purdue Pharma target those doctors they knew would overprescribe opioids," James said.

Proceeds from the settlement, which The New York Times reported exceeds any profits the firm made from its work with pharmaceutical giants, will go towards opioid prevention and recovery programs, James said.

cs/bgs