US government OK with combining suits from Bristol Myers, J&J in IRA fight

Bris­tol My­ers Squibb, John­son & John­son and the US gov­ern­ment agreed that the two com­pa­nies can con­sol­i­date their briefs to­geth­er in their cas­es against the gov­ern­ment — but that can on­ly go through if the fed­er­al judge pre­sid­ing over the cas­es signs off.

The com­pa­nies are two of sev­er­al phar­mas — Mer­ck and Astel­las among them — that have sued HHS and CMS in re­cent months, al­leg­ing that the In­fla­tion Re­duc­tion Act is un­con­sti­tu­tion­al. Per sep­a­rate law­suits, the com­pa­nies claim that the new drug price ne­go­ti­a­tion law vi­o­lates the First, Fifth and Eighth amend­ments.

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