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Pharmaceutical Philanthropy Or Resisting Regulations?: Why Pharmaceutical Donations Do Not Violate The Anti-Kickback Statute, Tino Illiparambil

Brooklyn Law Review

With health care costs spiraling out of control in recent decades, Americans have been forgoing necessary medical attention. The many federal health care programs instituted to assist patients do not guarantee affordable costs. In an effort to combat this crisis, pharmaceutical companies have taken the initiative to absorb some of these costs through patient assistance programs (PAPs). Pharmaceutical companies attract low-income patients to drug-specific PAPs by offering a deep discount on their medications. This leads to an increase in demand, which ultimately can be used to increase price and thus profits. Consequently, the government has begun to scrutinize PAPs for …