Tag Archives: Attorney General

Hearings on Massachusetts Transparency Bills Set for July 11

Three pieces of Massachusetts pharmaceutical pricing legislation are set for a hearing before the legislature’s Joint Committee on Healthcare Financing at 11:00 AM on July 11.  S. 652, sponsored by Sen. Mark Montigny, would impose strict reporting requirements on manufacturers of covered drugs, while empowering the state Health Policy Commission (HPC) to annually identify drugs with prices “excessively higher than justified,” and authorizing the Attorney General to bring consumer protection actions against manufacturers charging such prices. … More

Maryland Price-Gouging Legislation to Become Law Without Governor’s Signature

HB 631, Maryland’s first-in-the-nation “price gouging” bill, will become law without the signature of Governor Larry Hogan (R).  In a letter to Maryland Speaker of the House Michael Busch (D), Hogan stated that he would not sign the legislation due to concerns that it could violate the “dormant” application of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  However, Hogan declined to veto the legislation,… More

Massachusetts Senator Introduces Drug Transparency Bill Vesting CHIA and Attorney General with Oversight Authority

On January 19, 2017, Senator Mark C. Montigny introduced S.652 – “An Act to promote transparency and cost control of pharmaceutical drug prices.”  The bill currently sits in the Senate Committee on Health Care Financing, and covers the following categories of drugs: 1) the 10 costliest drugs to private payers in a given year; 2) the 10 drugs causing the highest annual increase in private payer spending;… More

Maryland ‘Price-Gouging’ Legislation Goes to Governor

In a lopsided 137 to 2 vote on April 10, 2017, the Maryland House of Delegates passed HB 631, which outlaws “price gouging” by manufacturers and wholesale distributors of certain “essential off-patent or generic drugs.”  Price gouging is defined as “an unconscionable increase in the price of a prescription drug.”

The legislation applies to drugs for which exclusive marketing rights have expired,… More