AHA, others file amicus brief opposing J&J 340B rebate model

The AHA Feb. 28 filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, urging the court to uphold the Health Resources and Services Administration’s decision to reject Johnson & Johnson’s proposed 340B rebate model in a lawsuit brought by J&J to bar the agency from doing so.

“As the Court evaluates this case, it should bear in mind what Justice Kavanaugh wrote for a unanimous Supreme Court just a few years ago: ‘340B hospitals perform valuable services for low-income and rural communities but have to rely on limited federal funding for support,’” the AHA wrote. “J&J’s rebate policy shrinks that already-limited funding even further, endangering the care that 340B hospitals provide for their patients and communities. If J&J is dissatisfied with 340B law or policy, it can seek change in the political branches. But it cannot take the law into its own hands and then seek judicial permission for its extra-legal actions.”

Others joining the AHA in the Feb. 28 filing were the Children’s Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges and America’s Essential Hospitals.