Medicare drug price negotiations: Judge tosses PhRMA lawsuit

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by a major pharmaceutical industry lobbying group and two other organizations that challenged Medicare’s new powers to negotiate prices for costly prescription medicines. 

The decision is an early win for the Biden administration as it grapples with a flurry of other legal challenges that drugmakers have filed against the Medicare drug price negotiations. The key policy under the Inflation Reduction Act aims to make medicines more affordable for seniors and could cut into pharmaceutical industry profits. 

The judge’s ruling won’t end the legal battle over the policy, which could end up at the Supreme Court. Medicare issued its initial drug price offers to manufacturers for the first 10 medications subject to the talks earlier this month, with final negotiated prices going into effect in 2026.

U.S. Judge David Ezra of the Western District of Texas sided with the Biden administration in dismissing the suit by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, the Global Colon Cancer Association and the National Infusion Center Association, which argued that the price talks were unconstitutional. 

In a 14-page ruling, Ezra specifically dismissed the National Infusion Center Association, or NICA, from the case, arguing that the court does not have jurisdiction over the group’s legal challenge. He wrote that NICA’s claims fall under the Medicare Act and could only be heard by a court following an administrative review by the federal agency. 

Ezra dismissed the rest of the case given that NICA is the only plaintiff based in the district. 

PhRMA is “disappointed with the court’s decision, which does not address the merits of our lawsuit, and we are weighing our next legal steps,” spokesperson Nicole Longo…