Cardinal Health announces legal settlement

Cardinal Health has this week announced a settlement resolving a recent investigation by the office of the New York Attorney General relating to transactions on the secondary pharmaceutical market.

It has agreed to pay $3 million (1.53 million pounds) to New York State, $7 million to non-profit company Health Research and an additional $1 million to the office of the Attorney General to cover the costs of the investigation.

Cardinal Health had previously set aside reserves of $11 million to pay for the cost of this matter and ceased purchasing from the secondary market in 2005.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said: “Cardinal has cooperated and is continuing to cooperate with the investigation? [and] has worked over an extended period, both on its own and in conjunction with the OAG to devise and implement innovative reforms to address the concerns raised by the investigation.”

The company commented that one of its primary responsibilities was to ensure the safety and security of pharmaceutical supplies.

It added that as part of this settlement, the company had introduced new methods to strengthen the safety and security of the distribution of products between manufacturers, doctors and hospitals.

Earlier this month, the company announced the opening of its ParMed Pharmaceuticals facility in Cincinnati.