It's hard to know where to begin to respond to Sally C. Pipes' op-ed about the 340B drug discount program because it has so many mistakes, half-truths and exaggerations ("Health Care Program Has Become an Arbitrage Operation," Aug. 29, 2013).
She is either badly misinformed or on a misguided mission to tear down 340B — a valuable program that reduces costs for patients and taxpayers.
First, a disclosure: I am president and chief executive officer for Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access, an organization that represents nearly 1,000 hospitals enrolled in the 340B drug discount program.
It would have been nice, not to mention transparent, if Pipes had similarly disclosed her ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Her essay has all the hallmarks of being part of the campaign to undermine 340B by some of the most highly profitable drug companies in the world and other well-financed special interests.
Congress created the 340B program in 1992 with bipartisan support. It gives hospitals and other health care providers that serve a disproportionate share of low-income patients relief from high prescription drug costs.
Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-counterpoint/102113-675980-low-income-patients-get-shot-in-the-arm-from-340b-drug-program.htm#ixzz2ieDRQuVT
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