Acting U.S. Attorney Carlton Shier announced Wednesday what he called a "historic" settlement in a drug case.

The case, involving multiple U.S. attorney and DEA offices across the country, ended with McKesson Corporation agreeing to pay a $150 million civil penalty for alleged violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

This pharmaceutical company supplied opiates to pharmacies in Eastern Kentucky, Shier said.

“McKesson’s failure to report suspicious orders fueled the opioid epidemic in eastern Kentucky,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Shier. “Opioid abuse has devastated our community, and the investigation of drug distributors, like McKesson, is one aspect of the United States’s multifaceted fight against this epidemic.”

The settlement is considered DEA’s largest civil penalty ever for violations of the CSA.

As part of the settlement, the company’s Ohio-based office is suspended from selling controlled substances for two years.