Posted by Michael Wonder on 03 Mar 2019
States, eager to lower drug prices, regroup after courts strike down Maryland ‘price-gouging’ law
1 March 2019 - A legal setback in Maryland has state legislatures across the country re-examining their efforts to lower drug prices, with lawyers from Nevada to Illinois combing through bills to ensure they can withstand future challenges from pharmaceutical industry groups.
State lawmakers’ interest has centred on a recently voided Maryland law that would have banned generic drug companies from hiking prices to a degree the state deems “unconscionable.”
An appeals court ruled the law unconstitutional last year, and though Maryland’s Democratic attorney general had aggressively contested the decision, the Supreme Court announced on February 19 that it would not hear an appeal.
