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Will the Inflation Reduction Act affect your settlement? A prior post discussed that possibility. A year later, there are developments
The First Drug Designation
The Department of Health and Human Services has named the first ten drugs to be subject to negotiation. The chosen drugs represent about 20% of total Part D annual spending, fifty and a half billion dollars.
The drugs are principally used for cardiac disease and diabetes as well as the autoimmune diseases psoriasis and Crohn’s disease. These are not conditions caused by run-of-the mill tort or workers compensation cases. They might occur as a result of medical or pharmaceutical malpractice, but that is not something practitioners are likely to see frequently.
Big Pharma Litigation
Predictably, passage of the Inflation Reduction Act provoked a rash of lawsuits from drug manufacturers challenging the law. Among others, plaintiffs Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Merck, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals have complained that the law unconstitutionally forces manufacturers to sell their products at below-market prices.
Briefing is ongoing, and appeals are sure to follow.
The Conclusion for the Claims Community
There was a lot of hoopla when this law passed about how it would finally tame the high cost of pharmaceutical drugs. However, the evaluation of cases with significant ongoing drug expense appears to be unaffected, at least for now. |
