Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, Petitioner, v. Kevin Concannon, Commissioner, Maine Department of Human Services, and G. Steven Rowe, Attorney General of Maine, Respondents.

The Maine Rx Statute, 22 Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 2681 et seq., was signed into law on May 11, 2000. The Maine Rx Program was created to promote the health of Maine citizens in the face of high prices for prescription drugs, especially for those who purchase medications without the benefit of private or public insurance plans. The Maine Rx Statute prohibits profiteering and excessive pricing by drug manufacturers, enforced by civil penalties; it prohibits drug manufacturers from changing their distribution methods as a way of avoiding the Maine law; and, it requires the Commissioner of Human Services to negotiate with drug manufacturers for rebates upon prescription purchases at Maine pharmacies by uninsured Maine citizens.

On October 26, 2000, upon the motion of the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America ("PhRMA"), the United States District Court for the District of Maine entered an order preliminarily enjoining the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Human Services and the Attorney General of Maine from implementing key provisions of the statute.

The Commissioner and the Attorney General perfected an interlocutory appeal, and on May 16, 2001, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed and vacated the injunction. On June 13, 2001, the Court of Appeals denied a motion for a panel rehearing made by PhRMA and shortly thereafter issued an order staying its mandate pending the filing, by PhRMA, of a petition for a writ of certiorari. On June 28, 2002, the United States Supreme Court issued a writ of certiorari.

Click on the right side bar to open files containing facsimiles of the briefs that were filed by the parties in the Court of Appeals, and the briefs that have thus far been filed by the parties in the Supreme Court. Also included are the brief that was filed in the Supreme Court by the Solicitor General of the United States at the invitation of the Court, and other amicus briefs. These documents are in .pdf format. The length of some of the documents may result in a lengthy downloading time.

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