Patients For Affordable Drugs Files Fifth Amicus Brief Defending Medicare Negotiation, Amplifying Patient Voices Against PhRMA’s Appeal

Countering PhRMA’s legal claims, P4AD continues to defend the historic Medicare Negotiation Program by amplifying the experiences of patients with high drug prices. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Patients For Affordable Drugs (P4AD) filed its fifth patient-centered amicus brief defending the Medicare Negotiation Program – this time in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where PhRMA is appealing its failed attempt to strike down the law in Texas. The case is part of the industry-wide legal crusade aimed at dismantling the 2022 prescription drug law’s historic price negotiation reform and restoring Big Pharma’s unchecked monopoly power.

The brief highlights the real-world impact of lower prices for patients and pushes back on PhRMA’s recycled legal arguments — which have already been rejected 14 times. 

This is the fifth amicus brief P4AD has filed on behalf of patients. You can find the full written brief HERE.

“Big Pharma spent decades rigging the drug-price system to maintain their monopolies and keep prices high at the expense of patients,” said Merith Basey, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs. “Our amicus brief puts patients firmly in the center of this fight, dismantling the industry’s tired legal arguments and reaffirming the transformational power of Medicare negotiation to secure a better deal for Americans. It’s the U.S. v. Pharma, and we stand firmly with the millions of patients counting on this historic reform.”

P4AD’s amicus brief underscores how Medicare price negotiation will deliver savings to patients in our community, including: 

• Aly Elbaga, a retired chemist in New Jersey, takes Eliquis, which eats up nearly half of his monthly income. He often skips doses to afford rent and food. Eliquis is one of the 10 drugs in the first round of negotiation, with lower prices set to take effect in 2026.
• Trevor Watts, a retired glazier in Oregon and Habitat for Humanity volunteer, was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at 62. His medication costs up to $161 for a 30-day supply, forcing him to delay medical care and home repairs — including a leaky roof that still drips into his entryway.

Key Points from the Amicus Brief: 

• The Negotiation Program marks a critical shift in the system to make Medicare work for the patients it is intended to serve, rather than those who profit from it.
• The system in effect before the Negotiation Program—one that barred the government from using its purchasing power to save itself and American taxpayers money on prescription drugs—was the product of an intense, overnight lobbying campaign, not anyone’s belief that it was actually good policy.
• PhRMA is “seeking a special rule that applies only to them — in their view, drug companies are constitutionally entitled to a different system than any other industry, one that allows them to enjoy the fruits of their lobbying campaign in perpetuity, with the federal government permanently disabled from negotiating lower prices for the drugs it buys.” 
• PhRMA’s claim that the Negotiation Program will harm innovation is contradicted by numerous objective studies and ignores several provisions in the law that promote innovation.

The amicus brief also highlights the wide-scale economic impact of Medicare negotiations:

• $99 billion: Taxpayer savings from Medicare negotiation through 2031, though this number could significantly decrease given the recent passage of the ORPHAN Cures Act, a pharma industry carveout that was included in the OBBB, and would reduce the number of drugs eligible for negotiation.
• $6 billion: Estimated savings to Medicare if lower negotiated prices had been in effect in 2023.
• $1.5 billion annually: Estimated out-of-pocket savings for 9 million people on Medicare Part D starting in 2026.
• 656,967 fewer deaths: Projected over seven years due to improved treatment adherence, with nearly 94,000 lives saved annually from reduced out-of-pocket costs from Medicare negotiation.
• $237 billion: Projected total savings to the government from the Inflation Reduction Act through 2031.

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Patients For Affordable Drugs is the only national patient advocacy organization focused exclusively on policies that lower prescription drug prices. We empower and mobilize patients by amplifying their experiences with high drug prices to hold those in power to account and fight to shape and achieve system-changing policies that make prescription drugs affordable for all people in the United States. P4AD does not accept funding from organizations that profit from the development and distribution of drugs. To learn more, visit PatientsForAffordableDrugs.org.