Pharmaceutical manufacturers urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Wednesday to declare unconstitutional a federal program meant to lower prescription costs, one of several challenges to the new Medicare drug pricing scheme pending in courts across the country.
Part of Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Bristol Myers Squibb Co.’s argument is that the program, created by the federal 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, violates the First Amendment by compelling speech. The program lets the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services negotiate prices with makers of certain selected Medicare-covered high-cost drugs, and manufacturers face a fine if they don’t enter the talks.