Merck sues federal govt over plan to negotiate Medicare drug prices
Merck is suing the federal government over a plan to negotiate Medicare drug prices, calling the programme a sham equivalent to extortion. The drugmaker is seeking to halt the programme, which was laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act and is expected to save taxpayers billions of dollars in the coming years. Merck said in a complaint filed Tuesday that the programme does not involve genuine negotiation. Instead, it said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services selects drugs to be included and then dictates the price, threatening drugmakers with a ruinous daily excise tax if they decline to agree. It is tantamount to extortion, the drugmaker said in the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The drugmaker added that it expects its diabetes treatment Januvia to be part of the IRA's scheme starting later this year. Representatives of the federal agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press06-06-2023
