George Barrett, executive chair of pharmaceutical distributor Cardinal Health, appeared before a U.S. House subcommittee May 8, where he apologized for the company's role in distributing millions of painkillers to West Virginia pharmacies, according to WOSU.
Here are seven things to know.
1. Mr. Barrett expressed regret at the fact that the company did not act sooner to halt millions of hydrocodone and oxycodone pills from being shipped to two West Virginia pharmacies. West Virginia has the highest rate of opioid overdose deaths in the country, The Washington Post reports. "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish we had moved faster and asked a different set of questions. I'm deeply sorry that we did not," Mr. Barrett said.
2. However, after being asked whether Cardinal held responsibility for the opioid epidemic, Mr. Barrett said, "No sir, I do not believe that we contributed to the opioid crisis."
3. Mr. Barrett joined executives from several leading pharmaceutical companies, including AmerisourceBergen, McKesson and Miami-Luken. When the subcommittee asked the executives whether their company contributed to the opioid crisis, four of the executives said "no." Joseph Mastandrea, chairman of the board of Miami-Luken, was the only executive to answer "yes."
4. The testimony comes as the subcommittee has been investigating pill dumping in West Virginia by wholesale drug distributors for the past year. Law requires distributors to submit suspicious drug orders to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
5. Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., chair of the committee's investigations panel, wondered "why did the distributors repeatedly fail to report suspicious orders" of prescription opioids. In several cases in West Virginia, "the volume of controlled substances a distributor sends on its own should be cause for concern," he added.
6. McKesson and Cardinal Health shipped 12.3 million doses of opioids to a small pharmacy in West Virginia between 2006 and 2014, according to an analysis conducted by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.
7. Cardinal Health is facing over 300 lawsuits from local and state governments over its role in distributing painkillers.