AIDS Group Sues Abbott And AbbVie Over 340B Drug Discounts

Once again, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has filed a lawsuit against a drugmaker for allegedly failing to offer required discounts on prescription medicines as part of the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The latest complaint accuses Abbott Laboratories and its AbbVie spin off of overcharging by more than $2 million for HIV drugs between 2005 and 2013 (here is the lawsuit). This is the second time in recent weeks that AHF, which is an outspoken advocate for expanding services to patients, has filed such a lawsuit against a drugmaker. In October, the medical care provider made nearly identical charges against Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which maintained it adheres to the requirements of the 340B program. We asked Abbott (ABT) and AbbVie (ABBV) for comment and will update you accordingly. [UPDATE: An Abbott spokesman sends us this: "With the separation, all obligations relating to the HIV treatments Kaletra and Norvir passed to AbbVie." And later, an AbbVie spokesman sent this: "AbbVie extends discount pricing to all 340B entities, including AHF, for use with eligible patients. We believe AHF's claims result from AHF's internal administrative errors during the time period in question and are without merit."] The pricing program was created in 1992 in order to give certain hospitals and clinics, which are referred to as ‘safety net providers,’ discounts on outpatient drugs for the indigent. The discounts are supposed to be comparable to pricing made available to state Medicaid ...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs