Prescription opioids are driving a drug epidemic that led to 70,327 drug overdoses in the United States in 2017. One of the highest rates of drug overdoses occurred in Pennsylvania, where the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia introduced a shareholder resolution in 2018 to have the pharmaceutical distributor AmerisourceBergen provide greater transparency on internal controls to manage the company’s financial and reputational risks from the U.S. opioid epidemic. AmerisourseBergen is headquartered in Chesterbook, Pennsylvania.

The resolution followed a $16 million settlement by AmerisourceBergen in West Virginia for failing to provide safe and effective measures to oversee their controlled substances.

Garnering the support of funds from Vanguard and Charles Schwab, the resolution received more than 40% of the vote, prompting AmerisourceBergen to agree to issue a report on their role in the supply chain and the board’s management of the “business risks related to the distribution of opioid medications.”

“The shareholders spoke pretty loudly that this is a huge issue,” said Tom McCaney, the Associate Director of Corporate Responsibility at the Sisters of St. Francis.

“We wanted to know from the board what their strategy was going forward, because there’s nothing static about this – it’s either going to get worse or get better. It’s not going to stay the same,” McCaney said. "And in the meantime, people are dying.”

Helping Protect Communities from Opioid Abuse
A shareholder introduced by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia helped tighten controls in the supply of prescription opiate drugs.