OAR 410-121-0420: DESI Less-Than-Effective Drug List

(1) An October 23, 1981 ruling by District of Columbia Federal Court directed the Department of Health and Human Services to stop reimbursement, effective October 30, 1981, under Medicaid and Medicare Part B for all DESI less-than-effective drugs which have reached the Federal Drug Administration Notice-of-Opportunity-for-Hearing stage. (2) In accordance with Section 1903(i)(5) of the Social Security Act, federal funds participation (FFP) is not available for drugs deemed Less Than Effective (LTE) or Identical, Related of Similar (IRS) drugs for which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Notice of Opportunity for a Hearing (NOOH) for all labeled indications. These drugs are also termed Drug Efficacy Study Implementation (DESI) drugs. Division does not reimburse for drugs designated as less than effective or drugs identical, related, or similar to a DESI drug. (3) A current list of DESI LTE/IRS drugs is available at https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/prescription-drugs/medicaid-drug-rebate-program/medicaid-drug-rebate-program-data/index.html. DESI drugs are identified by Covered outpatient Drug (COD) Status of 5 or 6. (4) The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has the responsibility of determining the DESI status of a drug product.