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# McKesson Pays $150 Million Fine Over Controlled Substances
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/mckesson-pays-150-million-fine-over-controlled-substances/
- Published: 2017-01-18T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T22:00:40.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5137751

Drug distributor McKesson Corp. has agreed to pay a record $150 million civil penalty for alleged violations of the Controlled Substances Act, the Justice Department [announced](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/mckesson-agrees-pay-record-150-million-settlement-failure-report-suspicious-orders?ref=fdaweb.com) 1/17\. The nationwide settlement requires McKesson to suspend sales of controlled substances from distribution centers in Colorado, Ohio, Michigan and Florida for multiple years. It also imposes new and enhanced compliance obligations on McKesson’s distribution system.

In 2008, McKesson agreed to pay a $13.25 million civil penalty and administrative agreement for similar violations. In the latest case, the government alleged again that McKesson failed to design and implement an effective system to detect and report “suspicious orders” for controlled substances distributed to its independent and small chain pharmacy customers – i.e., orders that are unusual in their frequency, size, or other patterns. “From 2008 until 2013, McKesson supplied various U.S. pharmacies an increasing amount of oxycodone and hydrocodone pills, frequently misused products that are part of the current opioid epidemic,” the government contends.