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Healthcare providers are outraged at Johnson & Johnson (New York Stock Exchange:JNJ) after the pharmaceutical giant on Friday significantly changed a program under which certain hospitals can get discounts on expensive drugs, The Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the WSJ newspaperThe company has introduced a new reimbursement system for hospitals participating in the government's 340B program, through which healthcare providers serving uninsured and low-income patients can get discounts on expensive outpatient medications.
Quoting a letter from JNJ, the Diary He said that under the revised program, hospitals would have to pay the full price up front for JNJ's top-selling drugs, Stelara and Xarelto, and then seek reimbursement.
Industry group the American Hospital Association was quick to criticize JNJ's move, saying it is an “example of Big Pharma taking unilateral action to gain advantages at the expense of hospitals that serve America's most vulnerable patients.”
The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company defended itself by arguing that its goal was to prevent what it called “rampant abuse and misuse” of the 340B program.
“To help the 340B Program Better serving the vulnerable “For patients, J&J is implementing reasonable and standard business practices used in other government programs and contracts,” a company spokesperson said.
Xarelto, a blood thinner marketed by JNJ and Bayer (OTCPK:BAYZF) (OTCPK:BAYRY), has already come under government scrutiny as part of the Medicare price-negotiation program introduced under the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Meanwhile, psoriasis therapy Stelara is set to go up against lower-cost generics in the U.S. next year.
