340B Blog
Latest News
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Maintaining an Orphan Drug List Thu Apr 16, 2015
The challenges for 340B covered entities attempting to comply with the orphan drug exclusion are two-fold: First, the list of orphan drugs issued by HRSA is description-based, and does not include NDCs necessary to definitively identify which drugs carry the orphan exclusion and should therefore be excluded from the program. Second, a covered entity wishing to obtain 340B pricing on orphan-designated drugs used for non-orphan conditions must match the dispenses of the drug against patient diagnoses to identify the context of “usage”.
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Forbes Magazine Calls out 340B Vendor, Chain Pharmacies Tue Mar 31, 2015
Christopher Versace of Forbes wrote on March 30, 2015, his take on the recent Congressional review of the 340B program. He calls out pharmacy chains which have charged high rates to participate in the program, and even calls out a 340B administrator by name for their lobbying for expansion of the program. Versace’s view captures some important truths about the program, but also reiterates some assumptions about the program’s purpose which are not reflective of the letter of the law.