Cardinal Health to Exit Secondary Drug Market

Drug wholesaler Cardinal Health Inc. said it would get out of a secondary market for buying drugs, a business that has caught the eye of regulators.

“It’s a business decision based on declining revenue,” Cardinal spokesman Jim Mazzola said.

Wholesalers buy pharmaceuticals from drug makers and resell them to pharmacies and hospitals but also buy and sell pharmaceuticals from one another in a secondary market.

New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer subpoenaed the three largest U.S. wholesalers -- Cardinal, AmeriSourceBergen Corp. and McKesson Corp. -- last month in an inquiry about possible drug tampering and mislabeling.