Drug Wholesaler Faces Charges For Its Role In Kentucky Opioid Crisis
Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear has brought charges against Cardinal Health for their role in the Kentucky opioid crisis for shipping millions of pills even as overdose deaths spiraled out of control.
As reported by the Lexington Herald Leader, the lawsuit alleges that Cardinal Health distributed excessive amounts of opioids, such as oxycodone, and failed to report suspiciously large shipments as required, choosing instead to “reap a windfall off the wave of addiction.”
It is the third lawsuit Beshear has filed against drug companies for allegedly inflaming the state’s addiction crisis in pursuit of profits.
The companies’ tactics “gave them record profits and left us with devastation,” Beshear said in a news conference.
Cardinal supplies drugs to pharmacies and institutions such as hospitals. Beshear cited several examples of the high volume of pills Cardinal shipped to Kentucky counties.
In Floyd County, for example, Cardinal distributed an estimated 11.6 million doses of prescription painkillers between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31. 2016 based on its market share, according to the lawsuit. That was enough for 302 pills for every man, woman and child in the county, Beshear said.
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To read more about how Cardinal Health is being sued by the state of Kentucky, please visit the Lexington Herald Leader.