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That gives the state the nation highest overdose death rate 52

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George Barrett, left, Canada Goose Jackets executive chairman of cheap canada goose the board, Cardinal Health, Inc., Dr. Joseph Mastandrea, chairman of the board, Miami Luken, Inc., John Hammergren, chairman, president, and CEO, McKesson Corporation, J. Smith Wholesale Drug Company, and Steven Collis, chairman, president, and CEO, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, are sworn in before they testify during a hearing of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, about the opioid epidemic, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 8, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

George Barrett, left, executive chairman of the board, Cardinal Health, Inc., Dr. Joseph Mastandrea, chairman of the board, Miami Luken, Inc., John Hammergren, chairman, president, and CEO, McKesson Corporation, J. Smith canada goose outlet shop Wholesale Drug Company, and Steven Collis, chairman, president, and CEO, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, testify during a hearing of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, about combating the opioid epidemic, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 8, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) Top executives of the nation leading wholesale drug distributors told canada goose outlet online uk Congress under oath Tuesday that their companies didn help cause the nation deadly opioid epidemic, drawing bipartisan wrath that included one lawmaker suggesting prison terms for some company officials.

The canada goose outlet confrontation came at a House subcommittee hearing at which legislators asked why huge numbers of potentially addictive prescription opioid pills had been shipped to West Virginia, among the states hardest hit by the drug crisis. Lawmakers are making canada goose outlet store an election year push for legislation aimed canada goose outlet new york city at curbing a growing epidemic that saw nearly 64,000 people die last year from drug overdoses, two thirds from opioids.

Company officials responses ranged from apologies to explanations to finger pointing at doctors who cheap Canada Goose prescribe the drugs, pharmacies that fill prescriptions and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for not doing enough as overseer of sales of legally controlled substances.

In a scene that recalled Congress 1994 grilling of tobacco industry officials, House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee Chairman Gregg Harper, R Miss., administered oaths to the heads of five pharmaceutical distributors and asked each canada goose outlet uk if actions you or your company took canada goose store contributed to the opioid epidemic. no were the leaders of the nation three biggest distribution firms: McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. market. Smith Wholesale Drug Company canada goose also said no.

George Barrett, left, executive chairman of the board, Cardinal Health, Inc., Dr. Joseph Mastandrea, chairman of the board, Miami Luken, Inc., John Hammergren, chairman, president, and CEO, McKesson Corporation, J. Smith Wholesale Drug Company, and Steven Collis, chairman, president, and CEO, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, testify during a hearing of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, about combating the opioid epidemic, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, canada goose outlet uk sale May 8, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The denials drew an angry response from GOP Rep. David McKinley goose outlet canada of West Virginia, where federal figures show 884 people died from drug overdoses in 2016. That gives the state the nation highest overdose death rate 52 out of 100,000 people.

fury inside me right now is bubbling over, said McKinley. He Canada Goose Outlet said he found the denial of responsibility offensive and he wondered aloud about the proper punishment.

a slap on the canada goose https://www.nationaalzweminstituuteindhoven.nl outlet sale wrist, some financial penalty? he asked. should there be time spent for participation in this? I just canada goose outlet canada want you canada goose black friday sale to feel shame. of both parties accused company officials of missing signs of suspicious activity. The government requires distributors of controlled substances to report suspicious drug orders to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and to deny questionable transactions.

The committee investigation has found that distributors sent more than 780 million pills of hydrocodone and oxycodone prescription pain killers that have caused many deaths to West Virginia from 2007 to 2012. Around 1.8 million people live in the state.

Investigators said 20.8 million opioid pills were shipped from 2006 to 2016 to Williamson, population 2,900. in the number of hydrocodone pills it received in 2006, according to the investigation.

it the profit motive that prompted them to continue making dubious sales, asked Rep. Cathy Kastor, D Fla.

The corporate executives said they improved their detection systems a promise lawmakers said they heard before. The officials also acknowledged responsibility for fixing the problem but said that was divided with others, too. Nearly 12 million people misused opioids in 2016, according canada goose outlet online to federal figures.

a shared responsibility among many different players: physicians, pharmacists, state medical boards, state pharmacy boards, DEA for solving Canada Goose sale the problem, said Mastandrea.

In some cases, they apologized.

the people of West Virginia, I want to express my personal Canada Goose online regrets for judgments that we make differently today, said George Barrett, executive canada goose outlet toronto factory board chairman of Cardinal Health.

The Trump administration and lawmakers of both parties have been drawing attention to opioids, a range of pain killing drugs that can be addictive when misused. They include prescription drugs like hydrocodone, oxycodone and codeine, synthetic opioids like fentanyl that can be made illegally, and illegal drugs like heroin.

House and Senate committees have been working on dozens of bills that include encouraging doctors to use non addictive pain killers, spurring research on such products, broadening access to treatment and giving financial incentives for drug treatment specialists to work in underserved areas.

In 1994, tobacco company executives testified before the Energy and Commerce panel, then controlled by Democrats. The officials said they didn believe cigarettes were addictive, despite evidence to the contrary.

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