BMS Becomes 12th Big Drugmaker to Limit 340B Drug Discounts

Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has said it will limit its participation in the federal 340B drug discount program, making it the 12th large pharma company to step away from the controversial program for safety-net hospitals.

In exchange for participation in Medicare and Medicaid, the 340B program requires drugmakers to offer discounts to hospitals and clinics that treat significant numbers of low-income patients. But over the past year, drugmakers have stopped participating, defending their withdrawal from the program by saying that duplicate orders and faulty rebates in the system, among other factors, justified their actions.

In early January, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) appealed decisions issued in three federal courts that called into question the agency’s authority to punish drug companies who refuse to participate in the 340B program.