Nevada healthcare provider sues Amgen for $7M in damages
Sagebrush Health Services, a nonprofit healthcare provider, has sued Thousand Oaks-based biotech giant Amgen for $7 million in damages in a dispute involving a federal drug discount program.
Under the 340B Drug Pricing Program, drug manufacturers such as Amgen, in exchange for the benefit of selling their products at full price to federal health insurance programs including Medicare and Medicaid, are required to sell certain drugs at discounted prices to eligible health care providers, known as “covered entities,” according to the lawsuit filed Dec. 30 in Ventura County Superior Court.
The federal Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, has sole authority to regulate covered entity status and program compliance, the civil complaint says.
Yet, the suit alleges, Amgen unilaterally determined that Nevada-based Sagebrush should not qualify as a 340B covered entity, despite approval by HRSA and Sagebrush’s ongoing qualified status.
“As such, in January 2024, Amgen began clawing back Sagebrush’s 340B Program savings to keep for itself,” the complaint contends.
“To date, Amgen has successfully clawed back at least $7,000,000 in Sagebrush’s 340B Program savings,” according to the suit.
Those alleged “unlawful actions” caused severe financial harm to Sagebrush and interfered with its provision of patient care, the suit says.
“Sagebrush brings this action to recover from such unlawful conduct,” the complaint says.
Amgen spokeswoman Kassidy Johnson told the Business Times Jan. 6 that the company does not comment on pending litigation.
But a 2024 federal lawsuit filed by Amgen and fellow drug manufacturersEli Lilly & Co., and UCB Inc. against HRSA says it challenges the agency’s decisions to certify and recertify nine Sagebrush “subdivisions” – clinics that treat sexually transmitted diseases – that are allegedly ineligible for the 340B program.
“Sagebrush Health Services epitomizes abuse of the 340B program by supposed STD subgrantees, including through its extensive purchasing of product from Amgen, Lilly, and UCB,” the suit says.
Sagebrush, however, is not named as a defendant in the complaint.
