The AHA today sent letters to the heads of U.S. operations for five large drug companies — Merck, Eli Lilly, Sanofi, Novartis and AstraZeneca — expressing “profound concern” over actions they are taking to limit the distribution of certain 340B drugs to hospitals and health systems and asking them to “cease this conduct immediately.”

These actions range from limiting the distribution of certain 340B drugs to demanding, on short notice, superfluous, detailed reporting on 340B drugs distributed through hospitals’ contract pharmacies.

AHA said that it “is an outrage that this action is being taken at a time when hospitals are in the midst of their response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, which has further demonstrated the fractured, inadequate state of the prescription drug supply chain,” and that the drug companies’ actions are “attempting to compel hospitals to divert critical resources away from the pandemic.” 

AHA urged the drug companies to stop this conduct and work to ensure that 340B drugs are available and accessible to vulnerable communities and populations.

“For a drug company to jeopardize hospitals’ ability to care for patients who are already under severe economic, emotional and health-related strain during a public health crisis is unconscionable,” AHA said.

Related News Articles

Headline
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee June 30 denied a motion for a preliminary injunction by AbbVie in its lawsuit against the state’s…
Headline
The AHA June 27 filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee that defends the state’s 340B contract pharmacy law…
Chairperson's File
Public
Advocacy is a core part of the work of the AHA, protecting and sustaining what hospitals and health systems need to truly care for our communities. We often…
Headline
A U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judge June 27 ruled against Johnson & Johnson and sided with the Department of Health and Human Services…
Headline
The AHA June 16 released a report showing hospitals that participated in the 340B Drug Pricing Program are not only subject to disproportionately greater…
Chairperson's File
Public
Advocacy is such an important part of what we do as hospitals and health systems — and what the AHA does on behalf of our field — to help ensure that we get…