McKinsey is also a teammate of the FDA, which since 2009 has had the authority to regulate tobacco products, including Altria. In other words, McKinsey plays both offense and defense, a dubious practice that has long remained secret. Since 2009, the FDA has awarded McKinsey more than $11 million for advice on regulating tobacco and for organizing the FDA office that includes tobacco regulation. During much of that time, McKinsey also consulted for the world’s biggest cigarette companies without disclosing this potential conflict of interest to the FDA, two senior former officials of that
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