AstraZeneca Will Continue Its PAP Through May 15

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced last year that it would discontinue its assistance program for seniors eligible for the new drug benefit, Medicare Part D whether they had signed up or not. This move was in response to an announcement from federal officials that drug companies could not continue to offer free or discount prescriptions to beneficiaries who enrolled in a Medicare drug plan. AstraZenca now says that it will continue with the its patient assistance program until May 15 which is the deadline to sign up for a Medicare drug plan. A spokesman for AstraZeneca said that this was a stopgap measure for poor seniors who had not signed up for a Medicare Part D program.

Created 1/27/06