(Photo: Rept0n1x via Wikimedia Commons)
Bristol Myers Squibb is the third entity this month to file a lawsuit against the U.S. government, challenging the Inflation Reduction Act's Medicare drug price negotiation program. The lawsuit calls for a halt to the program, alleging it violates the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
"The IRA [Inflation Reduction Act] does this by requiring BMS and other pharmaceutical companies to provide innovative medicines to third parties at prices set by the government, without any requirement that those prices reflect fair market value," Bristol Myers Squibb said in a statement. "The IRA makes manufacturers of innovative medicines state publicly that the government's price setting is a true negotiation that resulted in a fair price, even if it was not. The First Amendment protects citizens from just this sort of forced speech."
Recommended For You
Eliquis, a blood thinner that is one of the top-selling drugs produced by Bristol Myers, is expected by analysts to be among the first 10 drugs subject to the price negotiations. Those are slated to begin in September and focus on the prescription drugs on which the U.S. government spends the most. CNBC.com reports that Eliquis generated nearly $12 billion in revenue for Bristol Myers Squibb in 2022 — about one-quarter of the company's $46 billion in total revenue.
"This 'negotiation' is akin to the [g]overnment telling you how much it will pay to buy your house (capped at a fraction of the assessed market value), and then forcing you to sign an agreement turning over the house and announcing that the heavily discounted price is 'fair,' all under duress of having to pay a tax that dwarfs the home's true market value," according to complaint filed by Bristol Myers Squibb and obtained by CNN.com.
Related: Merck sues HHS and CMS, calling plan to negotiate drug prices 'extortion'
Medicare is the largest single buyer of health care products and services in the United States, and the IRA — passed last year amid public outcry over soaring drug costs — gives it the power to negotiate for the first time in history how much it will pay for a certain number of high-priced therapies.
According to Reuters, "the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that negotiations will save the government around $4.8 billion in 2026 and nearly $25 billion a year by 2031, as more drugs are added to the negotiation process."
Merck & Co. and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also have sued over the law, with Merck's lawsuit calling the negotiation process a "sham" that allows the government to unilaterally impose its preferred price. It alleges violation of the Fifth Amendment because the law allows for the taking of public property without offering just compensation.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims the law also violates the Eighth Amendment, "by levying an excessive fine if drugmakers refuse to negotiate and continue selling their products to the Medicare market," according to CNN.com.
For now, the Biden Administration appears unconcerned about the lawsuits.
"Big Pharma regularly forces Americans to pay many times what they do customers in other countries for the exact same medicines," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. "We are confident we will succeed in the courts: there is nothing in the Constitution that prevents Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
