House Committee Targets McKinsey for Dealings With Drugmakers and the FDA
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has put out a staff report that calls out consulting firm McKinsey for simultaneously providing its services to pharmaceutical companies — including Purdue Pharma — and to the FDA.
The congressional report concludes that McKinsey’s alleged conflict of interest cost taxpayers more than $65 million and that the consulting firm’s involvements with the FDA allegedly led to biased advice being given to federal officials.
The conflict of interest, which was not disclosed to the FDA, enabled the company to advise Purdue on how best to deal with the agency, the report contends, including the filing of an abuse-deterrent formulation of OxyContin, which has not been shown to reduce the overall abuse of the opioid.
In a comment on the report, McKinsey said its work for the FDA “has focused on administrative and operational topics, including improvements to organizational structures, business processes and technology. We have not advised the FDA on regulatory decisions or on specific pharmaceutical products.”
April 18, 2022
