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Combating Opioid Misuse

Combating Opioid Misuse

Cardinal Health understands the opioid epidemic is a public health crisis. We believe it will take everyone in the supply chain to solve it. As we deliver prescription medications from manufacturers to pharmacies and hospitals, while working to keep them from the wrong hands, Cardinal Health is proud of our values and our people and our commitment to being part of that solution.

 

Understanding the opioid epidemic

Experts across the board agree the opioid epidemic was driven by too many prescriptions being written for too many opioid pills over a decade or more.
Learn more about the opioid epidemic

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Almost 58 opioid prescriptions were written for every 100 Americans in 2017.1

Securely transporting prescription medications

Cardinal Health operates a strict and uncompromising system to spot, stop, and report to regulators all suspicious orders of prescription opioids. As threats evolve, we are constantly adapting our system to prevent the diversion and misuse of medications.


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85 trained team members

Our team is second to none. It includes investigators, statistical auditors, data analysts, pharmacists, and compliance officers deployed on site at our pharmaceutical distribution centers, in the field, and at our corporate headquarters.
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20,000 on-site inspections

In 2016, our anti-diversion and pharmacy business consultant teams conducted 20,000 on-site inspections of our pharmacy customers nationwide.
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1,000 pharmacies did not meet our high standards

To date, more than 1,000 pharmacies have not met our anti-diversion standards and we no longer do business with them.

Supporting solutions to end the epidemic

Cardinal Health cares deeply about the devastation opioid misuse has caused American families and communities.

To combat prescription drug misuse, in 2009, the Cardinal Health Foundation and its education partners created GenerationRx, a national drug misuse prevention and awareness program. In 2017, we expanded our Opioid Action Program to support an array of other solutions, including efforts to reduce opioid prescribing, raise awareness about opioid misuse, and support drug take-back events. We remain committed to supporting these efforts as well as other community-focused solutions.

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Reduce prescribing
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Raise awareness
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Support Community solutions

Playing a specific logistical role in pharmaceutical delivery

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Patient visits healthcare provider
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Patient fills prescription at pharmacy
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Pharmacists place order with distributors
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Distributors order product from manufacturers and securely transport products to licensed pharmacies

As a wholesale pharmaceutical distributor, Cardinal Health has an important but limited job in a complex, highly regulated supply chain that has many actors.

We provide a secure channel to deliver medicine of all kinds from hundreds of our manufacturer suppliers to our thousands of hospital and pharmacy customers.

News

The Cardinal Health Foundation supports communities around the country in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

Find news and more information about how we support efforts to reduce opioid prescribing, raise awareness about opioid misuse and support drug take-back events.

Read recent news and releases
  1. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/prescribing.html