The federal government has defeated another lawsuit against the Inflation Reduction Act, this time brought by the US Chamber of Commerce.
An Ohio federal judge dismissed the case on Thursday, determining that three of four plaintiffs lacked standing. The US Chamber of Commerce filed the suit last June alongside chambers of commerce for Ohio, Michigan and the Dayton area, arguing that Medicare price negotiations under the IRA are “Orwellian through and through.”
All four plaintiffs said they have “associational standing,” because each has members that would be “directly subject to the IRA’s price controls and adversely affected by them.” They pointed to AbbVie as an example, which is a member of all four chambers and markets the oncology drug Imbruvica, which was subject to negotiations.
However, Judge Michael Newman opined Thursday that AbbVie is not located in Ohio or Michigan, and plaintiffs have not “explained how any named members have interests” in the states.
As a result, Newman ruled that the Ohio, Michigan and Dayton chambers “do not have associational standing and must be dismissed.” Newman added that the US Chamber of Commerce “arguably has associational standing,” but would need to file another lawsuit in a different court.
As of press time, the US Chamber of Commerce did not respond to an inquiry about whether it plans to refile.
The dismissal marks the latest in a string of wins for the federal government in IRA cases, including cases brought by Bristol Myers Squibb, J&J, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim and Novo Nordisk. All of the companies have filed appeals or shared their intent to.
The federal government has until Sept. 1 to release the prices negotiated under the first round of the IRA program, with prices set to take effect in 2026.