Challenge to US drug price negotiation program revived by appeals court
Adds response from plaintiffs in paragraph 4
By Brendan Pierson
Sept 20 (Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court revived a lawsuit on Friday by healthcare and drug industry groups challenging the first-ever U.S. law requiring pharmaceutical companies to negotiate drug prices with the government's Medicare health insurance program that covers 66 million people.
The decision from the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not address the merits of the case, which was brought by the nation's largest drug industry lobbying group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and others. Instead, the court found only that a Texas judge was wrong to dismiss the case in February on the grounds that he did not have jurisdiction to hear it.
The case is one of at least eight lawsuits seeking to block the program. So far, none has been successful, and the first round of price negotiations was allowed to go forward, with the government last month announcing negotiated price cuts ranging from 79% to 38% on 10 drugs, including Merck & Co's MRK.N diabetes drug Januvia and Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO insulin products. The new prices go into effect in 2026.
"We are pleased the 5th Circuit agreed that the merits of our lawsuit challenging the (Inflation Reduction Act's) drug pricing provisions should be heard," a PhRMA spokesperson said in a statement. The other two plaintiffs - the Global Colon Cancer Association and the National Infusion Center Association (NICA) - also praised the decision.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the program, declined to comment.
The drug industry and healthcare groups sued the government last year in federal court in Austin, Texas, where NICA is based. They claimed that the drug price negotiation program, a signature initiative of Democratic President Joe Biden passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, violated the U.S. Constitution by giving too much power to federal regulators and imposing excessive fines on companies that refuse to participate.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra ruled in February that NICA, which claimed its infusion center members would lose money because their Medicare reimbursement is tied to the price of the drugs they administer, could not bring the case in court because the federal Medicare law required it to bring disputes over reimbursement to the HHS first.
The judge added that without the Texas-based plaintiff, he had no jurisdiction to hear the other groups' claims.
But the 2-1 5th Circuit panel on Friday disagreed and said NICA's claims stemmed from the Inflation Reduction Act, not the Medicare law, meaning that it was not required to bring its case before HHS.
Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod wrote the opinion, joined by Circuit Judges Kyle Duncan. Both were appointed by Republicans. Circuit Judge Irma Ramirez, who was nominated by Biden, dissented, agreeing with Ezra's reasoning.
Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Aurora Ellis
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
