<0> AHF Sues Johnson & Johnson for Cheating on AIDS Drug Pricing </0>
<0> AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Senior Director, CommunicationsTel: (323) 308-1833, Cell: (323) 791-5526or, Chief Counsel for OperationsTel: (323) 860-5202 </0>
(AHF) filed a lawsuit in California against pharmaceutical giant and its subsidiaries (J&J) alleging that the companies have under the , a Federal drug discount program designed to stretch scarce Federal resources as far as possible for safety net healthcare providers such as AHF. The J&J Companies include Johnson & Johnson, and . Together, they control a significant portion of the AIDS drug market with drugs that include , and Procrit.
AHF’s lawsuit against J&J was filed Wednesday in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, Central District []. The action against J&J includes claims of
“AHF made the Johnson & Johnson Companies aware that we were wrongly charged the non-discounted prices before filing this lawsuit, but the J&J Companies have refused to reimburse AHF for the excess amounts it paid for J&J’s drugs,” said President of AHF. “As a result, J&J has now forced AHF to seek judicial intervention to obtain the critically needed discounted drug pricing to which AHF is—and was—entitled.”
“AHF is entitled to this relief based on several legal grounds, including statutory, contractual and equitable theories,” said , Chief Counsel for Operations for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “But at bottom, we believe, and our lawsuit asserts, that J&J should not be permitted to effectively refuse to comply with their legal and contractual obligations with respect to 340B Program covered drugs without consequence and thereby deprive AHF of funds that it would use to benefit the vulnerable safety net population it serves.”
340B is a Federal program overseen by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA) that requires drug manufacturers to provide outpatient drugs to eligible health care organizations/covered entities such as AHF at significantly reduced prices. The program enables covered entities to stretch scarce Federal resources as far as possible, reaching more eligible patients and providing more comprehensive services.
Under the 340B Program (42 U.S.C. § 256b(i)(1)), manufacturers are required to ensure that Covered Entities pay no more for any product than the statutorily set, discounted 340B ceiling price.
“Given the profits Johnson & Johnson has made on these lifesaving drugs, the fact that they will not extend the legally required drug pricing discounts to a safety net care provider like AHF is shameful,” added Weinstein.
(AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 250,000 individuals in 32 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: , find us on Facebook: and follow us on Twitter: .