Merck announced on Tuesday that it is suing the government over a recently approved plan to allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, aiming to stop one of the nation's first efforts to take a small step toward lowering sky-high drug prices in the U.S.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Washington on Tuesday, claims that the plan is unconstitutional and calls it a "sham" and "tantamount to extortion." Merck, whose revenues topped $59 billion last year, says that the law, passed under Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, violates the Fifth Amendment, regarding compensation for government purchase of property. The lawsuit also claims the law "makes a mockery" of its First Amendment rights by forcing the company to say that it agrees to a negotiated price with the government.
