SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) today announced that it has finalized
administrative and civil settlements to resolve U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) potential
federal civil and administrative claims regarding McKesson’s
monitoring and reporting of suspicious controlled substance orders. The
reporting practices dating back to 2009, and challenged by the DOJ in
2013, are addressed by today’s settlement. Since 2013, McKesson has
implemented significant changes to its monitoring and reporting
processes. The settlement was previously publicly disclosed in a Form
8-K filed on April 30, 2015, and an accrual for the anticipated
settlement payment was reflected in McKesson’s fiscal year 2015 (FY15)
financial results.
The settlement represents the conclusion of discussions with the DEA and
DOJ over several years regarding McKesson’s interpretation of the DEA’s
regulations for the monitoring and reporting of suspicious controlled
substance orders. In the interest of moving beyond disagreements about
whether McKesson was complying with the controlled substance regulations
during the applicable period and to instead focus on the company’s
partnership with regulators and others to help stem the opioid epidemic
in this country, the company agreed to settle with the DEA and DOJ.
As part of the settlement, McKesson will pay $150 million and the DEA
will suspend, on a staggered basis for limited periods of time,
McKesson’s DEA registrations to distribute certain controlled substances
from four of McKesson’s U.S. Pharmaceutical distribution centers.
In recent years, McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical has put great effort into
implementing significant enhancements to how it monitors and controls
the distribution of controlled substances, referred to as the company’s
Controlled Substance Monitoring Program (CSMP). McKesson’s team includes
numerous individuals with significant regulatory and anti-diversion
expertise who play a lead role in its due diligence efforts, utilizing
advanced analytical tools to closely monitor our customers’ purchases.
McKesson is proud of its CSMP and will continue its efforts to be an
industry leader in the fight against prescription drug diversion.
“Pharmaceutical distributors play an important role in identifying and
combating prescription drug diversion and abuse. McKesson, as one of the
nation’s largest distributors, takes our role seriously. We continue to
significantly enhance the procedures and safeguards across our
distribution network to help curtail prescription drug diversion while
ensuring patient access to needed medications,” said John H. Hammergren,
chairman and chief executive officer, McKesson.
McKesson sees prescription drug diversion and abuse as an issue that
needs to be addressed through a comprehensive approach that includes the
patients who become addicted, doctors who write the prescriptions, the
pharmacists who fill them, the distributors who fulfill and deliver
pharmacies’ orders, the manufacturers who make and promote the products,
and the regulators who license the above activities and determine supply.
“We are committed to tackling this multi-faceted problem in
collaboration with all parties in the supply chain that share the
responsibility for the distribution of opioid medications,” Hammergren
concluded.
McKesson is committed to working with the DEA on an ongoing basis to
identify new ways to prevent misuse of controlled substances. As part of
the settlement agreement reached, McKesson and the DEA plan to meet
regularly over the next five years to ensure ongoing alignment. This new
level of partnership with regulators, and the enhancements McKesson has
made to its CSMP, strengthens McKesson’s ability to partner with all
participants in the prescription drug supply chain to help prevent
diversion while ensuring services to meet patient needs.
McKesson, in addition to improving the vigorousness of its CSMP, works
to educate its customers about the prevention of prescription drug
abuse. The company also advocates for public policies that will help
address the problem, including the 2015 passage of the Comprehensive
Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which contained a number of
provisions for preventing and treating addiction. McKesson supports more
robust funding of those policy proposals.
About McKesson Corporation
McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 5th on the FORTUNE 500, is a
healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to
making the business of healthcare run better. McKesson partners with
payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical
companies, and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier
organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting.
McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and
clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and
medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology,
and business and clinical services. For more information, visit www.mckesson.com.