A federal appeals court on Oct. 6 rejected a challenge from Novo Nordisk to the Medicare drug pricing plan included in the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The plan does not violate the Constitution’s First Amendment, a unanimous panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said in a 22-page decision.
They also turned away other arguments from Novo Nordisk, in part because the law enacting the plan precludes judicial review of certain aspects, such as price selection.
Part of the IRA, passed by Congress and signed by then-President Joe Biden in 2022, the Drug Price Negotiation Program requires health officials to negotiate prices for Medicare—the insurance program that covers the elderly and younger people with disabilities—with drug manufacturers….