Merck Files Lawsuit Against The U.S. Government

The new drug price negotiation program aims to lower prices for seniors, promote competition in the market, and strengthen Medicare.

The pharmaceutical company, Merck, sued the U.S. government on Tuesday over a law passed last year.

Merck claims the legislation that empowers Medicare to negotiate prices of certain medications is unconstitutional and threatens to stifle the industry’s future investments in cancer treatments and other drugs.

For the first time, Medicare has the ability to negotiate lower prescription drug prices that are prescribed in doctors’ offices or bought at the pharmacy thanks to the law.

The new drug price negotiation program aims to lower prices for seniors, promote competition in the market, and strengthen Medicare.

However, Merck argued that the drug price negotiation program is not the appropriate approach and that by coercing Merck to provide its drugs based on government set prices, it takes property for public use without fair compensation which is a violation of the fifth amendment.