The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District last Wednesday heard oral arguments in the court case brought by the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over a portion of the controversial Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed by Congress under former President Joe Biden, which contains provisions requiring drug manufacturers to sell specific products at prices set by the federal government.
Filed in June 2023 against former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, the lawsuit claims the IRA infringed upon the First Amendment rights of companies to set their own prices, created a negotiation process that robbed drug manufacturers of their Fifth Amendment right to due process, established excessive fines in violation of the Eighth Amendment that are imposed on manufacturers unwilling to sell at the government-approved prices, improperly delegated authorities to HHS, and that the legislation exceeded the powers assigned to Congress in the U.S. Constitution.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Newman initially declined to dismiss the case or issue an injunction in September 2023, but then dismissed the case in March 2024, declaring that participation in Medicare is voluntary. The judge dismissed the case again in August 2024, claiming his court was the improper venue. The case was appealed to the sixth circuit later in August 2024.
Jeff Stier, a Senior Fellow at the Consumer Choice Center, explained in posts to the social media platform X that the Chamber must make the case to the court why the price controls established under IRA harm companies outside the pharmaceutical industry, including those in the Chamber.
“The government, apparently concerned (for good reason) it can’t prevail on the merits, claims that challenging price controls are NOT germane to the interest of the chamber, a broad-based industry association,” wrote Stier. “What about all of the other businesses, chamber members, who would be adversely affected by price controls and the punitive measures used to coerce companies into compliance?”
Fines, beginning at 187.5% & escalate daily to an astounding 1,900% of a drug's price, are nothing short of excessive & amount to unconstitutional coercion in violation of the 8th Amendment's prohibition on excessive fines. They also have downstream costs that run far and wide.
— Jeff Stier (@JeffaStier) June 11, 2025
He also noted that the government can fine companies, which participate in Medicare but decline the fixed price set by the government for a specific drug, with daily fees of up to 1,900 percent of a drug’s price.
One former Trump administration official previously described this element of the IRA as “Soviet price controls” after the Biden-Harris campaign claimed to have used the IRA to save Americans billions in drug costs, and Alliance for Consumers Executive Director O.H. Skinner told The Ohio Star that the law was actually part of “Biden’s campaign against consumers.”
Skinner stated, “One of the fastest ways to harm consumers in the healthcare industry is to establish price controls that will stifle innovation and create shortages of products and services,” and noted that “government-imposed price controls have led to drugs and other treatments being rationed,” in Europe and Canada.
“American consumers will only lose out from government mandated price controls, whether it’s not having access to prescriptions or waiting months for everyday medical procedures, it is important that access to healthcare remains as open as possible,” said Skinner.
The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce serves more than 2,200 businesses in 14 counties in the area, and has been in operation for nearly 120 years.
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Pharmacy Visit” by Mike Mozart CC2.0.
