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McKesson Corporation is an American company distributing pharmaceuticals at a wholesale level and providing health information technology, medical supplies, and care management tools. The company had sales of $112 billion in 2011. McKesson is based in the United States and distributes health care systems, medical supplies and pharmaceutical products. Additionally, McKesson provides extensive...  MORE

McKesson Corporation is an American company distributing pharmaceuticals at a wholesale level and providing health information technology, medical supplies, and care management tools. The company had sales of $112 billion in 2011. McKesson is based in the United States and distributes health care systems, medical supplies and pharmaceutical products. Additionally, McKesson provides extensive network infrastructure for the health care industry; also, it was an early adopter of technologies like bar-code scanning for distribution, pharmacy robotics, and RFID tags. It is a Fortune Global 500 company, and the 14th largest company in the United States. Founded in New York City as Olcott & McKesson by Charles Olcott and John McKesson in 1833, the business began as an importer and wholesaler of botanical drugs. A third partner, Daniel Robbins joined the enterprise as it grew, and it was renamed McKesson & Robbins following Olcott's death in 1853. The company successfully emerged from one of the most notorious business/accounting scandals of the 20th century -- the McKesson & Robbins scandal, a watershed event that led to major changes in American auditing standards and securities regulations after being exposed in 1938. Since the mid-20th Century, McKesson has derived an increasing proportion of its income from medical technology, rather than pharmaceuticals. This culminated in its purchase of medical information systems firm HBO & Company in 1999; the combined firm was briefly known as McKessonHBOC. Accounting irregularities at HBOC reduced the company's share price by half, and resulted in the dismissal and prosecution of many HBOC executives. The firm's name reverted to "McKesson" in 2001. McKesson Technology Solutions, as the information technology branch of the company is now known, has continued to increase its market share through acquisitions, notably Per Se Technologies, RelayHealth, and Practice Partner. In 2010, McKesson acquired leading cancer services company US Oncology, Inc. for $2.16 billion, which was integrated into the McKesson Specialty Care Solutions business. LESS