WASHINGTON, D.C. —Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) led Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) this week in filing an amicus brief in AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals v. Becerra; Bristol Myers Squibb Co. v. Becerra; and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Becerra in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit urging the court to uphold the constitutionality of Congress empowering Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for consumers. The brief focuses on the legislative history leading to the law’s enactment. It demonstrates that Congress, as entrusted by the Constitution, may enact policy reforms and improve federal programs.  
 
“Big Pharma is once again refusing to accept that the power of the Biden-Harris Administration to negotiate drug prices is here to stay. Drug makers are again attempting to use the courts to undermine the Inflation Reduction Act–all to turn a bigger profit. And that’s despite the fact that the bill’s drug pricing provisions have the support of Americans—including 92% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans,” said Senator Welch. “If Big Pharma thinks we’re going to stand by as they try to raise the prices of prescription drugs for seniors, they need a dose of reality.”  

“In America, no one should be forced to choose between paying for life-saving medicine or paying their bills. Thanks to legislation we passed to end Big Pharma’s sweetheart deal, Medicare is starting to negotiate lower drug prices for consumers,” said Senator Klobuchar. “It’s no surprise Big Pharma has been trying to stop this in the courts, and they’ve lost every case decided so far. I will continue fighting back against these absurd attempts to reinstate sky-high prices for prescription drugs.” 
 
An excerpt from the brief is below: 
 
“Appellants now attempt to accomplish through judicial action what they could not through the legislative process. Appellants’ position in this litigation boils down to the argument that the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government from negotiating the prices of the products it purchases. Appellants seek to prevent reform of a purchasing process that Congress itself made. They argue that, Congress having created this process, Congress now cannot unmake the process or even amend for the benefit of the American public and the American taxpayer.  
 
As the Appellees’ brief ably explains, this position is wrong as a matter of constitutional law. Congress improves laws all the time. Congress has the right and indeed the duty to do so. The Program takes nothing from the pharmaceutical industry—not its drugs and not its patents. And the Program does not coerce industry participants to do or say anything. Like every other market participant, manufacturers may sell their products at prices buyers think is fair (or not fair) and buyers may make market choices in turn.” 
 
Senator Welch has long supported initiatives to lower prescription drug prices for Vermonters. This year, Senator Welch along with colleagues Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) led the introduction of new bipartisan, bicameral legislation to streamline prescription drug patent litigation, encourage fair market competition, and lower prescription drug prices. In February, Welch hosted a Capitol Hill briefing with health care experts and patient advocates focusing on the harmful impacts of patent thickets on everyday patients.  

This Congress, Senators Welch and Klobuchar also introduced the Strengthening Medicare and Reducing Taxpayer (SMART) Prices Act to build on the success of the Inflation Reduction Act to increase the number of drugs eligible for negotiation and unlock the ability of the U.S. Government to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries.  

Provisions from Sen. Welch’s bill introduced with Sen. Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to end the ban on Medicare negotiating lower prescription drug prices for Medicare’s 50 million seniors, introduced during his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives, were incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act.  

 
In 2023, Senator Welch along with Senator Klobuchar led a group of their colleagues in filing an amicus brief in Merck & Co. v. Becerra in the District Court for the District of Columbia and in Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. United States in the District Court for Connecting, urging the federal courts to uphold the constitutionality of Congress allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for consumers. On July 9, 2024, a federal judge in Connecticut dismissed Boehringer Ingelheim’s lawsuit.  

Read the full amicus brief. 

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