Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) joined several other big pharmaceutical firms in suing the federal government over Medicare's ability to negotiate drug prꦗices for the first time in its history.

J&J argued that provisions in the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Inflation Reඣduction Act of 2022 (IRA) would force it to provide its patented medicines “significantly below market prices.”   

The federal lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services claims the legislation “breaks the agreement at the heart of patent regulatory laws,” which award companies ꩲthat develop new treatments to “time-limited and constitutionally protected🍌 rights in their innovation.”

The IRA provisions were designed to help bring down drug costs for senior citizens. The White House said five to seven million people could see those expenses d🏅rop because of the new law. This year, the administration moved to require dozens of companies to reimburse Medicare for prescription treatments with price increases that exceed inflation. 

J&J said that the rules imposed by the IRA “will constrain medical innovation, limit patient access and c𝔉hoice, and negatively impact the overall quality of patient care.” The company added that it has a “responsibility to challenge the current version of the law.”

Similar legal challenges have been filed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Merck (MRK), as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and PhRMA, t꧋he largest pharmaceutical industry lobbying gr༒oup.

Johnson & Johnson shares were little changed on Tuesday following the news. They were down about 10% for the year so far.