Cardinal Health Statement in Response to Preliminary Injunction Hearing February 29, 2012

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Feb 29, 2012, 06:21 ET

DUBLIN, Ohio, Feb. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier today the federal district court denied our motion for a preliminary injunction against the DEA's immediate suspension of our license to ship controlled substances from our Lakeland, Fla., distribution center. We disagree with this decision and have noticed our appeal of this decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Our contingency plans will be immediately activated, and we will make every effort to meet our customers' needs with minimal disruption.

We have demonstrated a deep commitment in helping fight prescription drug abuse. We work hard to actively prevent drug diversion and have spent millions of dollars to build a system of advanced analytics and on anti-diversion specialists. We have stopped distributing to hundreds of pharmacies determined to pose an unreasonable risk of diversion. The majority of those pharmacies still maintain their DEA registrations to dispense controlled medicines. We have also collaborated with industry experts to create programs to educate young people, parents, teachers and communities about medication safety and the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

We have genuine respect for the work of the DEA, but effectively addressing prescription drug abuse requires a very different approach than does the war on illicit drugs. We want to work collaboratively with all participants in the drug supply chain – including regulators, pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, pharmacists, doctors and boards of pharmacy – to combat this serious nationwide issue. We want to be part of a new, more effective solution to stop prescription drug abuse, without disrupting legitimate use.

SOURCE Cardinal Health