J&J is suing Biden government over Medicare drug negotiations

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Johnson&Johnson On Tuesday, the company sued the Biden administration over Medicare’s new powers to reduce drug prices, becoming the third pharmaceutical company to challenge the Inflation Reduction Act’s controversial provision.

The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in New Jersey, argues that the Medicare hearings violate the First and Fifth Amendments of the US Constitution. Previous lawsuits filed separately by Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb, as well as by the US Chamber of Commerce and PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry’s largest lobby group, made similar arguments.

J&J said its lawsuit seeks to “stop the anti-innovation incursions by Congress that are threatening the supremacy of the United States in the development of transformative therapies and patient access to those treatments.”

The policy aims to make drugs more affordable for older Americans, but will likely eat into the drug industry’s profits.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuits, did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

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