Is Cardinal Health Propagating Cancer Through Toxic Gases in Augusta, Georgia?
Posted on 11/13/2021
Cardinal Health, Inc. is an American multinational health care services company, and the 14th highest revenue generating company in the United States. Cardinal Health owns KPR U.S., LLC (Kendall Patient Recovery U.S., LLC). Kendall Patient Recovery U.S., LLC runs a medical sterilization plant near the Augusta Regional Airport and Phinizy Swamp. The plant in Augusta, Georgia has been releasing tens of thousands of pounds of ethylene oxide into the air for decades.
In 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that ethylene oxide is actually 60 times more toxic to children than originally thought, and 30 times more toxic to adults. The EPA classified ethylene oxide as a human carcinogen in December 2016.
Ethylene oxide is mainly used to sterilize hospital equipment and make plastic.
Some citizens of Augusta filed a lawsuit against Cardinal Health’s KPR U.S. Each of the plaintiffs lived or worked within about a five-mile radius of the plant. The lawsuit highlights nine cases of breast cancer, nine miscarriages, lymphoma cases, prostate cancer, aggressive brain cancers, and more. The lawsuit alleges the plaintiffs did not know about the risks, while KPR did. In 1986, the EPA tested the amount of ethylene oxide in the air being emitted from KPR. The EPA found it was 584 times the current acceptable limit. The plant did make some changes, but the levels are still higher than the limit allowed by the EPA.
The case was filed on July 19, 2021 and is Case 1:21-cv-00112-JRH-BKE.
Some of the largest shareholders in Cardinal Health include Norway Government Pension Fund Global (Norges Bank Investment Management), Vanguard Group, and BlackRock. These investors partake in passive equity strategies.
