SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — The pharmaceutical industry’s effort to block California’s requirement that drug companies publicly notify and explain major price increases has stalled, with a federal judge ruling the landmark transparency law does not violate the First Amendment.
Siding with the state, U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. squashed an industry group’s arguments that the 2017 bill infringes drugmakers’ free speech and regulates interstate commerce. Noting the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) willingly bypassed discovery and pushed for summary judgment, England found the group’s case plainly underdeveloped and unfit for market.
“There are genuine disputes of material fact as to whether providing advance notice of certain increases in a prescription drug’s wholesale acquisition cost results in either direct or extraterritorial regulation,” the judge explained while denying the group’s facial challenge. “Ultimately, PhRMA has not met its burden in showing that Senate Bill 17 violates the dormant Commerce Clause on its face.”