Eli Lilly (LLY.US) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US) have successively filed lawsuits against American agencies to obstruct drug discount programs.

Eli Lilly and Company (LLY.US) has filed a lawsuit against the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the United States, accusing it of trying to unreasonably obstruct a specific discount model offered by Lilly for drugs supplied under the government's 340B program. Previously, competitor Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US) also filed a lawsuit for similar reasons. In the lawsuit filed on Thursday in a federal court in Washington D.C., Lilly accuses HRSA of lacking reasonable basis or procedures in attempting to block its cash supplement model for covered entities under the 340B program. Pharmaceutical companies participating in the 340B program are required to provide discounts on expensive outpatient drugs to healthcare providers serving uninsured and low-income patients. Lilly's cash supplement model involves direct cash payments to healthcare providers on a weekly basis, aimed at preventing abuses in the current program and ensuring compliance with existing laws and new requirements under the Inflation Rebate Program. Lilly emphasizes that it has filed this lawsuit because HRSA has no authority to arbitrarily reject a model that aligns with the original intent of the 340B program to enhance transparency, efficiency, and program integrity. Earlier this week, Johnson & Johnson also filed a lawsuit accusing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of denying its request to adjust the discount model for its drugs Xarelto and Stelara under the 340B program.