The federal government has advised pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, and United Therapeutics that they are in violation of a federal drug-pricing program.

The program, called “340B,” was created in 1992. It requires drug makers to offer discounts on all outpatient drugs to hospitals and clinics that serve the poor.

But last July, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the six pharmaceutical companies reportedly began putting policies in place that limited access to the discounted drugs.

In some instances, the companies allegedly limited drug sales with new requirements for hospitals to submit data in order to get the discounts.

The federal government says that violated the 304B statute and caused hospitals to be overcharged for the drugs covered under the program. 

Diana Espinosa, acting administrator of the federal government’s Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), informed the six drug manufacturers by letter that they must immediately begin offering their drugs at discounted prices to hospitals participating in the federal drug-pricing program. She says they must also credit or refund all hospitals for overcharges that resulted from the limiting policies, or face fines for each instance of overcharging.

Click on the link below to read the HRSA press release:

https://www.hrsa.gov/opa/index.html

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