Cardinal Health Settles Accounting Charges

The SEC today announced that Cardinal Health, Inc., a pharmaceutical distribution company based in Dublin, Ohio, has agreed to pay $35 million to settle charges that it engaged in a nearly four-year long fraudulent revenue and earnings management scheme, as well as other improper accounting and disclosure practices.  The Commission's complaint alleges that, from September 2000 through March 2004, Cardinal engaged in this conduct in order to present a false picture of its operating results to the financial community and the investing public - one that matched Cardinal's publicly disseminated earnings guidance and analysts' expectations, rather than its true economic performance. Through these practices, Cardinal materially overstated its operating revenue, earnings and growth trends in certain earnings releases and filings with the Commission.