Drug Price Law to Spur Creative Claims as Industry Readies Fight

Medicare’s drug price negotiations are poised to turn into a legal battle as the government works out rules to implement them and critics eye ways to skirt limits on lawsuits.

The Inflation Reduction Act will empower the government to negotiate prices of certain drugs for the first time starting in 2023—putting companies like Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson, and Regeneron on the hook to participate.

Language in the law barring judicial review of how Medicare determines which drugs are eligible for negotiation will make any challenge tricky.

Potential avenues for lawsuits will include invoking the US ...