The Latest: Drug distributor says statement out of context

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on court filings and data on the opioid crisis (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

A drug distribution company executive who said in a legal proceeding that the company does not have an obligation to the public in shipping prescription opioids meant that only in a legal context, her company says.

Cardinal Health spokeswoman Brandi Martin says that news reports about associate general counsel Jennifer Norris’s comments during a deposition taken earlier this year did not contain the proper context.

Norris said under questioning that the company did not have an obligation to the public but did have “an obligation to perform its duties in accordance with the law, the statute, regulation and guidance.”

Martin says the company wants to help solve the nation’s opioid crisis and will defend itself against lawsuits that allege wrongdoing in the way it distributed the drugs.

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10:50 a.m.

An executive at one of the nation’s largest drug distribution companies said in a legal proceeding that the business does not have an obligation to the public when it comes to shipping prescription opioid painkillers.

That’s one of the exchanges contained in thousands of pages of court documents made public this week in lawsuits between two county governments in Ohio and a group of drugmakers and distributors over the toll exacted by opioids, which have been blamed for more than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. since 2000. Data shows shipments of the drugs increased even as overdoses mounted.

In a deposition this year, Cardinal Health associate general counsel Jennifer Norris said the company has no obligation to the public but has “an obligation to perform its duties in accordance with the law, the statute, regulation and guidance.”