Unknown a few years ago in the eyes of the general public, today it is impossible not to have heard of " McKinsey“, the famous firm that advised the French government during the Covid-19 health crisis. Yet what you may not know is that the famous firm has been close to the tobacco industry for decades and even worked with the vape sector until 2019.
MCKINSEY IN CONFLICT OF INTEREST WITH THE FDA?
Emmanuel Macron, McKinsey, do you make the connection? We are obviously talking about this scandal during the Covid-19 crisis concerning the management of the pandemic. In a recently published book (When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm), investigative journalists Walt Bogdanich et Michael Forsythe trace the many links established between the consulting firm McKinsey & Company and the tobacco and vape industries. This history, hitherto little known, is all the more damaging since McKinsey has become, for twenty years, a regular partner of the authorities of many countries in the field of public health.
Still on bad luck? Hard to say. Still, the firm McKinsey advised Altria and several other multinational tobacco companies until 2021 before directly attacking public health. Even more surprisingly, the consulting firm would also have worked for the company JUUL from 2017 to 2019, while practicing from 2009 for the FDA as well as for other health institutions.
Even though McKinsey advised the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Starting in 2009, when its powers were extended to tobacco products, current and former FDA officials when asked about McKinsey said they « bewildered and surprised » to discover today the consulting firm's links with the tobacco industry. Yet it is a total amount of US $ 77 million which McKinsey received to intervene more than thirty times for the FDA with several assignments for the Center for Tobacco Products, which regulates tobacco and nicotine products.
Asked about the conflict of interest that this position may cause, a spokesperson for McKinsey said he saw no problem there, since the firm would never have advised the FDA on a specific product.
MCKINSEY PARTICIPATED IN THE SUCCESS OF JUUL!
After the tobacco, McKinsey was contacted by JUUL. In 2015, the American brand wanted to take a step towards the cannabis market, but McKinsey declined this mission on the grounds that cannabis was not yet legal at the time, but would become a JUUL provider from 2017.
The reputation of JUUL was already beginning to tarnish at this time, it was under the seal of secrecy that many missions were accomplished for JUUL by McKinsey, concerning the brand, the organization, the evaluation of aromas, the sale to the retail, youth prevention and regulatory issues. McKinsey notably advised JUUL when it was challenged by the FDA for its role in the current epidemic of vaping among young people and adolescents.. McKinsey has also conducted flavor studies with young people between the ages of 13 and 21, without finding fault with the ethical nature of this research.
