

Bush.īagley said both judges would probably be skeptical of a motion for preliminary injunction tied to the October deadlines, though Rose could perhaps be persuaded to allow it. Rose, who was appointed by former President George W.

The chamber's case is assigned to Judge Thomas M. The judge assigned to Merck's case is Randolph Daniel Moss, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama. "Any fight over the proper remedy will come at the end of the case, once the legal merits are finally resolved," he said. The odds are that the lawsuits will be a long slog, Bagley said. He said the plaintiffs can't plausibly claim an immediate injury now because the price cuts wouldn't go into effect until 2026.īagley said the parties could ask for an injunction that is tied to the October deadlines when they sign agreements to participate in the negotiations and start submitting data. Meekins said in his analyst note earlier this month that Merck might try to get the federal courts to block the law before the deadlines.īut Bagley noted that Merck and the chamber did not file motions for preliminary injunctions to immediately block the law's implementation. "That is noteworthy in that it is clear to us that Merck is ready and willing to take this all the way to the Supreme Court if needed," Meekins wrote in analyst note. Gretchen Whitmer.Ĭhris Meekins, an analyst with Raymond James, noted that the all four attorneys representing Merck previously served as clerks to conservative Supreme Court justices: They clerked for Antonin Scalia, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. Nicholas Bagley, a former Justice Department attorney, said the high court is the "big fish." Any decision striking down the Medicare price negotiations would ultimately have to be made by the justices, said Bagley, former chief legal counsel to Michigan Gov. "These lawsuits were written with the Supreme Court in mind," said Robin Feldman, an expert on intellectual property and health law at the University of California College of the Law in San Francisco. Legal experts and financial analysts who cover the pharmaceutical industry said Merck, the chamber and Bristol Myers Squibb will try to litigate their claims all the way to the high court. PhRMA's members include other big drugmakers like Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. The big drugmakers' lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, told CNBC in a statement that it supports the claims made in the lawsuits.Ī spokesperson for PhRMA said the organization is also considering litigation against Medicare.
These are the first lawsuits challenging Medicare's new powers, but they are unlikely to be the last. The company also worries the federal government will select its Type 2 diabetes drug Januvia, which generated $2.8 billion in revenue in 2022, for negotiations this year.ĭrugmaker Abbvie, a member of the Chamber of Commerce's Dayton, Ohio, chapter, is defending its blood cancer drug Imbruvica, which generated $4.6 billion in revenue last year, or about 8% of its total sales.Īnd Bristol Myers Squibb is trying protect its blood thinner Eliquis, which brought in $11.8 billion in sales last year, or about 25% of the company's $46 billion total revenue for 2022. Merck fears its blockbuster cancer therapy Keytruda, which generated 35% of the company's $59 billion in revenue for 2022, will be targeted by the program in the future. The companies claim the program will stifle future drug development in the U.S. The pharmaceutical industry views the program as posing a major threat to revenue growth and profits. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in a narrow party-line vote last year, gave Medicare the power to negotiate prices for the first time in the program's nearly 60-year history - a watershed moment that the Democratic Party had long fought for. The lawsuits are the opening salvo in what will go down as a historic and potentially decisive battle over the federal government's efforts to control rising drug prices. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower

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