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Facing mounting pressure about its role in the opioid crisis, McKinsey has taken the unusual step of acknowledging that its work with Purdue Pharma fell short of its standards and vowed a full internal review of its actions, including the possible destruction of documents. Criticism of the world’s most prestigious consulting firm has intensified since The New York Times reported last month that McKinsey had discussed ways for Purdue to “turbocharge” sales of its drug OxyContin, proposing that it pay distributors rebates for overdoses linked to the pills they sold. Lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans — have called for McKinsey to be investigated, and a prominent physician employed by the firm said executives who knew of this work should resign. (Bogdanich and Forsythe, 12/8)

A federal watchdog is being asked to investigate the Food and Drug Administration for an “inappropriate collaboration” with Biogen (BIIB) in readying an application for regulatory approval to market aducanumab, its controversial Alzheimer’s treatment. (Silverman, 12/9)

The Oklahoma Supreme Court was asked Monday to order Johnson & Johnson to make a $9.3 billion payment to the state to address the deadly opioid crisis. "Nothing less than the fate of Oklahoma hangs in the balance," attorneys for the state told justices in an appeal brief. Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman last year ordered the pharmaceutical giant to pay $465 million to the state to combat the crisis. The state had sought more than $17 billion at trial. (Clay, 12/9)

The coronavirus pandemic has presented an extreme challenge for cancer clinical trials, with many shutting down completely in the spring and others struggling to recruit patients too afraid of Covid-19 to risk entering hospitals or clinics. But researchers say there’s been an unexpected silver lining: The many innovations they rapidly ushered into place to make it safer and easier to access clinical trials are working so well for both patients and researchers, they may stay in place long after the epidemic ends. (McFarling, 12/9)