In a victory for the pharmaceutical industry, a U.S. judge ruled that Minnesota must temporarily halt a controversial law that is designed to provide transparency into prescription drug pricing over concerns that it is unconstitutional.
The order was issued in response to a lawsuit filed last July by the Association for Accessible Medicine, which argued the law gives Minnesota the power to regulate interstate commerce and apply the law to prices charged in other states. The trade group also contended the law violates the constitutional right to due process because the state can file lawsuits over out-of-state transactions.
The Minnesota law, which was enacted in 2020 but strengthened this past May, resembles other so-called transparency laws in some other states. It seeks to identify the factors driving prescription drug costs higher and correlate these to certain expenses, revenue, and profits reported by pharmaceutical manufacturers.