In a brief, but intriguing investor note last week, Merrill Lynch’s Dave Risinger discussed a bump in Lilly’s quarterly sales and suggested that a “key factor” was the drugmaker’s recent decision to end its “Lilly Answers” patient assistance program last December.

The program was ended due to Medicare Part D rules, he noted, adding that the program compensates Lilly at a “dramatically” higher price for prescriptions. In other words, the patient assistance program wasn’t as financially attractice.

Lilly replaced it with another program in January called “Medicare Answers, but Risinger noted the new program covers just three products - Forteo, Zyprexa and Humatrope. This is a “smaller operation supporting a fraction of the Lilly Answers volume,” he observed.

However, Lilly didn’t have to scrap or reduce its program. In fact, the CMS and HHS OIG have indicated drugmakers can continue PAPs if these are coordinated with Medicare Part D. But as Jim Edwards at BrandWeekNRX points out, Lilly appears to have placed profits over patients.

Risinger ended his note by wondering if other drugmakers got first-quarter sales bumps for the same reason. Of course, if they haven’t already done so, they may be tempted by Lilly’s example. How any of this jives, though, with the notion of putting patients first isn’t at all clear.

CMS perspective on PAPs;
Lilly Medicare Answers site;
HHS OIG advisory bulletin on PAPs.[tags]Eli Lilly, Medicare Part D, Patient Assistance Program[/tags]