Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Eli Lilly directing the drugmaker to stop imposing what her office called unlawful conditions on Missouri hospitals in the 340B Drug Pricing Program.
The letter orders Lilly to end its requirement that 340B hospitals submit claims data for every dispensation of any Lilly product, regardless of setting, to receive 340B pricing and to stop using claims data collected under the policy, according to an Oct. 26 news release. The attorney general’s office said failure to comply may lead to an enforcement action under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.
When Columbia, Mo.-based University of Missouri Health Care refused to comply, Lilly cut the system off from 340B pricing July 2, according to the attorney general’s office. To avoid further harm to patients and financial losses, the system agreed to temporarily provide the data while reserving its rights, the office said. The attorney general’s office alleges Lilly misled consumers by representing that covered entities may buy drugs at 340B prices while denying those prices to Missouri hospitals that refuse to provide the data.
“Big Pharma does not get to bully Missouri hospitals or hold prescription drug prices hostage,” Ms. Hanaway said. She said rural communities, which depend on 340B to keep clinics, emergency rooms and oncology services open, are hit hardest.
Lilly expanded its claims-data requirement to in-house pharmacy dispensing for all covered entities in February and in June gave hospitals five business days to comply or lose pricing. The company began denying discounts June 18 to noncompliant hospitals, saying it is collecting the data to stop fraud, waste and abuse and to identify duplicate discounts under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Hospital groups called on federal regulators to intervene, and Tampa, Fla.-based Tampa General Hospital and Lebanon, N.H.-based Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital are challenging the policy in federal court, though neither judge has ruled. Eleven states have laws barring manufacturers from conditioning 340B discounts on claims data, though Missouri is not among them.
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