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Gov. Kasich Says State Is Looking At Claims In Trying To Decide Whether To Sue Drug Distributors

Daniel Konik
Karen Kasler talked with Gov. John Kasich in his Cabinet Room.

A report from 60 Minutes and the Washington Post on Sunday suggested central Ohio based Cardinal Health and other opioid painkiller distributors persuaded Congress to weaken the Drug Enforcement Agency’s authority. Gov. John Kasich talked about that today in an exclusive interview.

Ohio is already suing five manufacturers of prescription painkillers, claiming they downplayed the dangers when they aggressively marketed those drugs to doctors, who prescribed them to patients who got addicted.  Gov. John Kasich said his office is checking into whether to include drug distributors in that lawsuit.

“You always have to look at claims and you have to look at them thoroughly and find out what the truth is. And that’s precisely what we’re doing. So we are examining it right now,” Kasich said. "We're looking into what are the facts before we decide anything. We've got to find what the facts are."

Several Ohio cities and counties have already filed suit against Ohio-based Cardinal Health, along with McKesson Corporation and AmerisourceBergen.

Contact Karen at 614-578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.
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