Maine pays $678K in legal fees in drug case

AUGUSTA (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage says the state has paid $678,000 in legal fees in a court case that shot down a Maine law restricting drug manufacturers' use of information about the drugs doctors prescribe.

IMS Health Inc. sued the state of Vermont over a law requiring it to get doctors' permission before selling data on their prescription-writing habits to drug companies to use to tailor sales pitches.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year ruled that Vermont's law was unconstitutional, thereby making a similar law in Maine — which was passed in 2007, before LePage became governor — unconstitutional as well.

A federal judge last month ordered Maine to pay $678,000 in IMS Health's legal fees related to the case.

Vermont this year was ordered to pay $2.4 million in legal fees.

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Comments

2077822587's picture
verified

There's only one true winner here.....

The lawyers for IMS, Health. Why is it that every time I go to the doctors office, I have to sign all these confidentiality forms. You can be on your death bed in the Emergency Room, and the most important thing they need to know, what could be your last words, is whether they can tell anyone else your even there.
I guess when it comes to the Supreme Court, companies having access to your medication records so they can slam you with sales pitches, is more important than medical privacy.......

Woody's picture
verified

Maine...

The surplus and salvage state.

420Revarie's picture
verified

Thank you

U.S. Supreme Court.

Centarie2000's picture
verified

how is it unconstitutional to

how is it unconstitutional to be required to ask permission before selling business information to a third party for marketing purposes? nothing like watching liberties being shredded for the sake of big business. next they are going to sue for the patients personal info so they can market directly to the consumers.

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