Federal Judge Blocks Big Pharma Attempt to Stop Medicare Drug Price Negotiation

[justaprogressive]

A federal judge in Ohio on Friday blocked an attempt by corporate interests to stop Medicare’s historic negotiation of certain drug prices with pharmaceuticals.

Medicare gained the power to negotiate drug prices as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), but the several industry groups and drug makers have sued to forestall the program, arguing that it is unconstitutional, CNN explained. One of those groups was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which filed its lawsuit in June. The Ohio judge Friday rejected its request for a preliminary injunction to block the program before October 1, the date by which pharmaceuticals must agree to negotiate or not.

“This is the first major blow to Big Pharma in its legal battles to block the drug price negotiation provisions under the Inflation Reduction Act,” Peter Maybarduk, director of the Access to Medicines program at Public Citizen, said in a statement.

“The Chamber’s lawsuit lacks merit,” Maybarduk contined. “The court made the right decision not to grant the injunction, which would have caused needless patient suffering and treatment rationing.”

Judge Michael Newman of the Southern District of Ohio, a Trump appointee, ruled that the chamber “demonstrated neither a strong likelihood of success nor irreparable harm,” as CNBC reported.

[link:https://truthout.org/articles/federal-judge-blocks-big-pharma-attempt-to-stop-medicare-drug-price-negotiation/|

[True Blue American]

1. Dayton, Ohio Judge!👍