Cable, Internet Lobbyists Fight Drug Price Disclosure

A lobbyist group associated with the cable and internet industries have joined forces with a group of pharmaceutical companies and the Association of National Advertisers in an effort to contest a new regulation that forces prescription drug companies to advertise their list price when creating online or television commercials, according to the Media Post.

The Internet & Television Association allied themselves with several drug manufacturers and the ANA after submitting a ‘friend-of-the-court’ brief with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday.

“More than merely affecting pharmaceutical companies, the rule also affects the First Amendment rights of cable networks and systems,” the Internet & Television Association wrote in the brief obtained by Media Post. “By requiring disclosure of a prescription drug’s wholesale cost, the rule effectively prevents cable networks and systems from carrying advertisements that do not include that information.”

Big Pharma companies Merck, Eli Lilly and Amgen began the campaign against the drug price disclosure mandate after The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services implemented the new rule that requires all prescription drug companies to incorporate wholesale price information for their drugs when running ads.

All three drug manufacturers, alongside the Association of National Advertisers, sued earlier this year to block the mandate, claiming that the Health and Human Services agency did not have the power to impose the rule while also arguing that a drugs list price is often higher than out-of-pocket costs.

U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta blocked the mandate in June due to the fact that the agency did in fact overstep its authority when imposing such regulations on the prescription drug market.

The Internet & Television Association is now advocating the appellate court to uphold blocking the mandate, arguing that the drug price-disclosure mandate is a violation of cable providers’ free speech rights, with the group arguing that the rule forces cable companies “to convey a controversial message against their will, in violation of their First Amendment rights,” the group wrote in Tuesday’s brief, reports Fox Business.