McKesson Says FTC Probing Drug Wholesalers

McKesson Corp. said Friday that the Federal Trade Commission was investigating whether the company engaged in anti-competitive practices with other wholesale pharmaceutical distributors.

According to the company’s annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FTC requested documents from the San Franciscobased company in December.

The document request doesn’t allege wrongdoing, the filing said. The investigation is at an early stage, and the company said it was in the process of responding to the FTC request.

Elsewhere in its annual report, McKesson said it recently reached an agreement to settle certain claims brought on behalf of its employee profit-sharing plan for $18.2 million.

Separate claims involving the McKesson Profit Sharing and Investment Plan and its participants aren’t resolved by the settlement, the filing said, and the company’s motion to dismiss those claims remains pending.

The claims brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act relate to the company’s restatement of earnings in 1999. In January, McKesson agreed to settle a class-action shareholder lawsuit regarding the matter for $960 million.

The company accrued for the settlement in its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31 and established an additional reserve of $240 million. That sum includes the proposed $18.2-million settlement, the filing said.

McKesson shares fell 19 cents to $37.68 on the New York Stock Exchange.