April 13th, 2018 by WCBC Radio

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that a Maryland law passed last year to stop drug companies from sharply increasing the price of generic medicines is unconstitutional.

A split three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the law regulates trade that happens beyond Maryland’s borders, which is prohibited by the so-called dormant commerce clause. Judge Stephanie D. Thacker wrote an opinion ordering a lower-level federal judge to bar the law from going into effect.

The ruling is a blow for Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, who championed the measure and helped get it through the General Assembly in 2017. The law was the first of its kind in the nation.

The Association for Accessible Medicines, a drug industry trade group, sued the state over the law. Chip Davis Jr., the group’s president, said the ruling would be good for patients.