A federal judge refused to block Maine from enforcing a new state law protecting 340B pricing for contract pharmacy arrangements, according to a news release from the American Hospital Association.
The preliminary injunctions were filed by AbbVie and Novartis. U.S. Magistrate Judge John Nivison in Portland, Maine, ruled that they “failed to establish that they will likely succeed on the merits of their preemption, commerce clause, takings [and] vagueness claims.”
He pointed to two federal appellate court rulings in similar cases in Arkansas and Mississippi where industry challenges to similar state laws were rejected.
“The Court discerns nothing in 340B to suggest that Congress intended to limit the number of patients for whom covered entities may prescribe drugs at the discounted rate,” Nivison wrote.
The Maine Protect Health Care for Rural and Underserved Communities Act is set to take effect this week. It is one of several state laws that aim to protect contract pharmacies from drugmaker restrictions.
In recent years, major drugmakers have sought to limit the use of contract pharmacies to test rebate-based alternatives to traditional discounts. Drugmakers argue the measures will help improve oversight and curb abuse, while hospital groups and the HHS have said the rebate models threaten the financial support safety-net hospitals rely on to serve vulnerable populations.
