Tag: Cardinal Health

W.Va. Settling Drug Suit Against 2 More Distributors

Two major prescription drug distributors have agreed to settle a West Virginia lawsuit alleging they fueled West Virginia’s opioid epidemic with excessively large shipments of painkillers into the state over several years.

 

Boone County Circuit Court Judge William Thompson disclosed the “settlement in principle” in an order Tuesday cancelling further proceedings.

He directed Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and the state attorney general’s office to provide details by the week of Jan. 9.

 

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the settlements, with terms undisclosed, end the state suit against the companies.

 

The newspaper’s investigation found drug wholesalers shipped 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to West Virginia in six years, a period when 1,728 people statewide fatally overdosed on them.

 

The state has settled similar claims against other wholesalers.

West Virginia County Sues Three Drug Distributors

A West Virginia county has sued three prescription drug distributors alleging they fueled the local opioid epidemic by shipping far too many painkillers there.

The McDowell County Commission filed the suit Friday that names Cardinal Health, McKesson Corp. and AmerisourceBergen as defendants.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported that the commissioners also sued Dr. Harold A. Cofer Jr. who was disciplined by the state Board of Medicine earlier this year amid an investigation into his drug prescriptions.

Cofer, who kept his medical license, declined to comment.

A recent investigation by the newspaper showed McDowell County, with 28,000 residents, was shipped 9 million hydrocodone and 3.2 million oxycodone pills over six years and had the highest drug overdose rate of any U.S. county.

Cardinal Health declined to comment. McKesson and AmerisourceBergen did not immediately respond to queries.

Officials Approve Contract With Drug Company They're Suing

West Virginia officials have approved a contract with a drug company they have accused of fueling the state’s opioid problem.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the state health agency and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey approved the $657,000-a-year contract to allow Cardinal Health manage a pharmacy at a McDowell County hospital. The contract was approved even though both offices are suing the company.

Former Attorney General Darrell McGraw originally filed the lawsuit in July 2012, accusing the company of shipping an excessive number of painkillers to “pill mill” pharmacies across West Virginia. Morrisey inherited the state’s lawsuit.

Morrisey’s office signed off on the deal in May after being pressed by state Health Secretary Karen Bowling. His office declined to say if the contract could jeopardize the lawsuit.

Complaint Against W.Va. Attorney General Dismissed

An investigative panel has dismissed a complaint against West Virginia’s attorney general regarding his involvement in lawsuits against pharmaceutical drug distributors.

A Milton business owner had accused Attorney General Patrick Morrisey of having an “incurable conflict of interest” and said he couldn’t fairly prosecute Cardinal Health because he used to lobby for a drug distribution trade association and his wife is a Cardinal Health lobbyist.

But the Lawyer Disciplinary Board determined last month that Morrisey didn’t break any ethics rules. Morrisey recused himself from the lawsuit involving Cardinal Health in 2013 and the board said he was never involved in the case in a “substantive” way.

In a statement, Morrisey thanked the board for dismissing the “frivolous” complaint and rebuking the “unfounded political attacks” from his opponents.

 

Two W.Va. Agencies Join Lawsuit Against Drug Company

Two West Virginia agencies are joining a lawsuit against an Ohio drug company, alleging its negligent practices have helped fuel the state’s pain pill abuse epidemic.
 
     The Department of Health and Human Resources and the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety recently signed on as plaintiffs in the attorney general’s lawsuit against Cardinal Health.
 
     West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey recused himself in August from the lawsuit filed by the office because his wife lobbies for the company in Washington, D.C.
 
     The suit was filed during former Attorney General Darrell McGraw’s last term. Morrisey defeated McGraw in the 2012 general election.
 
     The Charleston Gazette reports that outside lawyers handling the case will now report to the heads of the other departments and their agencies’ attorneys.
 

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