BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

CSL, Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol-Myers, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, sanofi-aventis, Takeda pharmaceuticals news

April 4, 2011 7:00 AM UTC

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that local health providers participating in the 340B drug discount program do not have a legal right to sue drug manufacturers for alleged drug overpricing. In the court's opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that pricing enforcement is the responsibility of HHS, and that "suits by 340B entities would undermine the agency's efforts to administer both Medicaid and 340B harmoniously and on a uniform, nationwide basis." HHS oversees both the 340B program and the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. The decision overturns a 2009 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Santa Clara County originally filed a class action suit in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Alameda alleging that a group of pharmaceutical companies violated the pricing agreement under the 340B program and overcharged 340B health providers for covered drugs. The suit was subsequently moved to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which rejected the county's claim because it did not have a right to sue under the statute (see BioCentury, Oct. 4, 2010). ...