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Louisiana Attorney General Joins Bipartisan, Nationwide Coalition Defending Affordable Drug Prices

Louisiana – On May 16, 2022, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry joined Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and other state attorneys general in filing two amicus briefs in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the District of Columbia defending affordable drug prices.

The bipartisan, nationwide coalition of attorneys general is defending the actions of the United States Department of Health and Human Services in cases brought by Sanofi SA, Novartis Pharmaceutics, United Therapeutics Corp, and NovoNordisk. These pharmaceutical giants are accused of refusing to comply with or unilaterally imposing illegal restrictions on the 340B Program, which requires discounted drug pricing for community health centers, clinics, and institutions serving low-income and underserved patient populations.

“Many of our neighbors rely upon affordable medicine to live, and drug companies who violate their obligations to these residents must be held accountable,” said Attorney General Landry. “The violation orders issued by HHS were lawful and necessary.”

Landry, Tong, and 18 of their colleagues argue in their legal briefs that for nearly two years, drug manufacturers participating in the 340B Program have ignored their statutory obligation to offer 340B-discounted prices on critical prescription drugs to safety-net providers.

“These drug manufacturers have either limited 340B covered entities to using a single retail community pharmacy (contract pharmacy), or conditioned the use of multiple contract pharmacies on intrusive audits of healthcare providers’ confidential, proprietary claims data. Drug manufacturers allege that imposing conditions that restrict the use of contract pharmacies is appropriate because the term “pharmacy” is not in the text of the 340B statute and that such conditions are necessary to prevent drug diversion and duplicate reimbursement claims. But permitting manufacturers to unilaterally change the 340B Program is in direct contravention of the statute and policies long pursued by Congress and advanced by the States,” argue the state attorneys general.

Attorneys general from Connecticut, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Illinois, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont filed amicus briefs. 

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