Drugmakers Invoke First Amendment in Fight Against TV Ad Pricing

Drugmakers are still leaning heavily on the First Amendment in their fight against the Trump administration’s efforts to mandate that drug prices be included in TV advertising.

“The government cannot compel speech that tends to mislead consumers under any level of First Amendment scrutiny,” according to a brief filed Nov. 12 on behalf of three major drug companies and an advertising industry group.

Lawyers representing Merck & Co., Eli Lilly and Co., and Amgen, along with the Association of National Advertisers, are seeking, “at minimum,” a stay on the rule’s effective date, which was originally set for July 9 and ...