Biden Administration Adds Insulin to Drug Price Negotiation List in Major Blow to Big Pharma
theintercept.com
“This was an unexpected victory in a long fight against an illegal cartel of three corporations who have raised their insulin prices in lockstep.”

“This was an unexpected victory in a long fight against an illegal cartel of three corporations who have raised their insulin prices in lockstep.”

The Biden Administration pleasantly stunned health care reform advocates Tuesday by including short-acting insulin in its list of 10 drugs for which Medicare will negotiate lower prices, power vested in the White House by the Inflation Reduction Act.

The IRA was passed in the face of one of the heftiest barrages of lobbying in congressional history, with the pharmaceutical industry spending more than $700 million over 2021 and 2022 — several times more than the second- and third-ranking industries — much of it aimed at stopping the legislation, watering it down, or undermining its implementation.

  • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    60·
    1 year ago

    And they’ve already filed lawsuits:

    The suits make similar and overlapping claims that Medicare negotiations are unconstitutional.

    The companies argue that the talks would force drugmakers to sell their medicines at huge discounts, below market rates. They assert this violates the Fifth Amendment, which requires the government to pay reasonable compensation for private property taken for public use.

    The suits also argue that the process violates drugmakers’ free speech rights under the First Amendment, essentially forcing companies to agree that Medicare is negotiating a fair price.

    They also contend that the talks violate the Eighth Amendment by levying an excessive fine if drugmakers refuse to engage in the process.

    Just ridiculous.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/29/10-drugs-to-face-medicare-price-negotiations-see-the-list.html

    • Ertebolle@kbin.social
      521·
      1 year ago

      A great way to tell that a business is making way too much money is when they can afford to hire monkey cages full of lawyers to fling every terrible legal argument they can think of at you in the hope that one of them somehow sticks.

    • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
      28·
      1 year ago

      And yet in every other country where they have to bargain against a centralized healthcare system, they are able to provide a decent price.

      The US needs to take decisive action against these sociopaths.

    • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
      4·
      1 year ago

      The suits also argue that the process violates drugmakers’ free speech rights under the First Amendment, essentially forcing companies to agree that Medicare is negotiating a fair price.

      Sure Jan. 🙄

    • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
      1·
      1 year ago

      At this point the first amendment is just their catchall for any time they want to stop the government doing something, isnt it? Selling drugs isnt speech, making cakes or websites isn’t speech, you fucking monsters don’t have to like it and you don’t have to pretend to like it, you just have to stop destroying people for money.