SENATORS DEMAND BIG PHARMA ALLOW LOW-INCOME PATIENTS TO ACCESS LIFESAVING, DISCOUNTED 340B DRUGS AND CARE
WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) led a group of 22 senators, including U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), in demanding that pharmaceutical manufacturers stop withholding medications discounted under the 340B Drug Pricing Program from qualified providers that use contract pharmacies – locking out low-income patients from accessing lifesaving drugs and care. In a letter to the drug industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the senators pointed to multiple retaliatory, burdensome, and likely unlawful efforts by its member drug companies to prevent 340B-covered providers from receiving discounted drugs, including denials to providers using contract pharmacies and excessive claims data requests. “By improperly limiting access to 340B drugs, manufacturers will sever a lifeline to treatment for…