The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which runs free AIDS clinics in the US and other countries, has filed a lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb for overcharging the organization for drugs purchased under the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program. The 340B program provides access to discounted prescription drugs to various healthcare entities certified by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The dispute centers on rebates that AHF contends the drugmaker should have offered after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act increased the minimum discount. In its lawsuit, AHF maintains rebates should have been offered on a retroactive basis dating back to Jan. 1, but that Bristol-Myers did not adjust its rebates until July and, as a result, the organization overpaid about $124,000.

“Normally, there is a lag time of two quarters for setting the pricing, and the companies have interpreted that to mean the explicit retroactive provisions didn’t apply until July 1,” says AHF president Michael Weinstein. “But since it was a specific act of Congress, we believe they are not in compliance. And it’s not just (Bristol-Myers). All of the companies are out of compliance.”

And so AHF is considering taking action against other drugmakers as well, but started with Bristol-Myers for a few reasons - constrained resources, the hope that a favorable decision will force others to comply without incurring additional costs and, as Weinstein put its, “a matter of recent history - they have a particularly bad record.”

Earlier this year, AHF banned Bristol-Myers reps from its clinics pricing of its Reyetaz AIDS medication (see this), which incensed advocacy groups and state officials who have been battling a funding crisis for state ADAP programs (back story here and here). We await word from Bristol-Myers.

UPDATE: Shortly after posting, a Bristol-Myers spokeswoman writes to say that “Bristol-Myers Squibb is committed to supporting access to our medicines and we continue to deliver on our commitments, including the provision of discounts to 340B-covered entities such as the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. We are reviewing AHF’s complaint and have no further comment at this time.”