President Trump and the Department of Health and Human Services attempted to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable by requiring them to reveal the price of the drugs they advertise if that cost was above $35 monthly.
A federal judge has decided that the DHHS does not have the authority to make or enforce this rule and he has blocked the implementation of the rule right before it was to take effect.
According to The Daily Caller:
Major pharmaceutical companies Merck, Eli Lilly and Amgen sued the administration over the rule in June.
HHS plans to work with the Department of Justice “on next steps related to the litigation,” HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said according to Stat News.
The administration finalized the rule in May. It would apply to all drugs that cost more than $35 for a month supply. In addition, the rule has support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Both Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin support it.
Mehta is an Obama appointee and federal judge on the D.C. District Court.
If Congress passed a law requiring this the problem would not exist that the judge pointed out, but it remains unclear if Congress will act to hold big pharma accountable.
