AppId is over the quota
The DEA suspended Cardinal Health, the country's second-largest drug distributor, from selling and shipping powerful painkillers and other drugs from its Lakeland, Fla., facility for two years as part of a settlement reached Tuesday.
Kiichiro Sato, APOutside Cardinal Health headquarters in Dublin, Ohio.
Kiichiro Sato, APOutside Cardinal Health headquarters in Dublin, Ohio.
The Drug Enforcement Administration sought to revoke Cardinal's license in February, accusing the company of selling excessive amounts — more than 12 million oxycodone pain pills — to four Florida pharmacies over three years. The DEA said the company did not report suspicious orders or visit the chain pharmacies that purchased large amounts of the drugs.The DEA also suspended controlled substances licenses for two CVS pharmacies in Sanford, Fla., which purchased millions of oxycodone pills from Cardinal. A judge is expected to rule on the CVS case this month."Cardinal Health is not above the law," said Joe Rannazzisi, DEA deputy assistant administrator. "With this agreement, it admits that it neglected its vital responsibility to prevent the diversion of controlled substance medications."While the agreement resolves the licensing issue, the DEA said it may pursue civil penalties, including fines, against the company. The Dublin, Ohio-based company had revenue of more than $100 billion in 2011.This is the second time the DEA has taken action against Cardinal. In 2008, Cardinal paid a $34 million fine after the DEA accused it of shipping excessive amounts of hydrocodone, another powerful painkiller, to Internet pharmacies. As part of that settlement, the DEA suspended licenses at three distribution facilities for a year.Cardinal admitted Tuesday it had "inadequate" control over some of its controlled drugs and had not fully complied with the 2008 agreement."This agreement allows us to put this matter behind us, and just as important, will clear the way for a more productive dialogue about how we and others in the health care and regulatory community can work together to prevent the abuse and misuse of prescription drugs," Cardinal CEO George Barrett said.The five-year agreement applies to all 28 of Cardinal's distribution facilities and requires the company to review orders for the controlled drugs, visit pharmacies to look for signs of diversion and hire extra field inspectors for Florida pharmacies. The Lakeland facility can still distribute non-controlled drugs and medical supplies.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
