The main lobbying group for US drugmakers filed a complaint opposing a measure championed by President Joe Biden that would allow Medicare to negotiate prices for medications.
(Bloomberg) — The main lobbying group for US drugmakers filed a complaint opposing a measure championed by President Joe Biden that would allow Medicare to negotiate prices for medications.
The provisions allowing the health program for the elderly and disabled to negotiate prices with companies are unconstitutional, according to the suit filed Wednesday in a district court in Texas by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry group.
Drugmakers are registering outrage over the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year that gives Medicare — the country’s largest buyer of health-care products and services — the power to bargain over prices of certain high-priced therapies. Merck & Co. sued the US earlier this month on constitutional grounds, calling the law “tantamount to extortion.”
The suit filed by PhRMA, the National Infusion Center Association and the Global Colon Cancer Association names the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, its administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the Health and Human Services Department and Secretary Xavier Becerra as defendants.
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