In December 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that New York’s $600 million fee on the sale of opioids into the state unconstitutionally prohibits pharmaceutical companies from passing the cost onto consumers. Furthermore, the Court ruled that the Opioid Stewardship Act (OSA) violated U.S. Constitution's dormant commerce clause and, therefore, was unconstitutional. The OSA would have forced manufacturers and distributors of opioid medications to pay pro rata shares of a $100 million annual penalty (using a volumetric calculation based on opioid strength, rather than price) while forbidding manufacturers and distributors from passing any portion of that annual cost to New York purchasers.
Please see this Law360 article to read more about the case.
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