The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling to dismiss a challenge to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The court found that the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce lacked standing to sue on behalf of their members. The appeals court largely agreed with the district court’s ruling, clarifying some points made. The court agreed that national organizations are not the only entities that can sue over federal laws that can impact U.S. states and regions. The district court had also found that the pharmaceutical company AbbVie and its subsidiary Pharmacyclics had no direct connections to the business climate of Dayton, Ohio, for the chamber to sue on its behalf. However, the appeals court clarified that businesses often have interests in places where they aren’t headquartered, so a lack of such geographic ties should not be considered “fatal” to establishing standing. The U.S. Chamber could choose to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The advocacy group Patients For Affordable Drugs applauded the ruling, stating that it marks the 10th court ruling in favor of patients and against the pharmaceutical industry’s desperate legal attacks on the Medicare Negotiation Program.
The appeals court has upheld the dismissal of the US Chamber’s challenge to Medicare negotiation. Huong membership 005-2023
