Pharma Battling Legal Precedent in Medicare Drug Price Lawsuits

Decades of legal precedent defending the authority of Congress and the Medicare agency threaten to stand in the way of the pharmaceutical industry’s pursuit to stop the federal government from negotiating lower drug prices, lawyers and drug pricing analysts say.

The leading industry trade group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, took a stab last week at arguing the drug price negotiation provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act are unconstitutional, following similar lawsuits filed by member companies Merck & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. The US Chamber of Commerce and several state and local affiliates filed another lawsuit over ...