A drugmaker refuses to “negotiate” a drug’s price must pay an excise tax that escalates to 1,900% of the drug’s daily revenue

See Bernie Sanders Wants a Pharma CEO Show Trial: He wants to punish the executives of companies that have sued to block drug price controls from The WSJ. Excerpt:

"The two drug makers argue in their lawsuits that the IRA exacts an uncompensated taking of their property. If a drugmaker refuses to sign an “agreement” to “negotiate” a drug’s price—or rejects what the government deems a “maximum fair price”—it must pay an excise tax that escalates to 1,900% of the drug’s daily revenue. This is effectively extortion.

Their lawsuits also contend that the IRA violates their speech rights by compelling them to endorse the false narrative that they are participating in a “negotiation” that results in a “fair” price. Lower courts are expected to rule on the lawsuits in the coming months, and appeals could reach the Supreme Court. Is Mr. Sanders afraid the government will lose?

His plan to subpoena the CEOs is another display of unconstitutional government coercion, which the J&J letter argues would “exceed Congress’s authority under applicable Supreme Court precedent.” In Watkins v. U.S. (1957), the Court held that congressional investigations conducted solely “to ‘punish’ those investigated are indefensible.”

It’s also rich that Mr. Sanders is trying to compel the CEOs’ public testimony while the Biden Administration conducts its sham negotiations behind closed doors. The Health and Human Services Department has threatened drug makers with antitrust litigation if they discuss their negotiations. As the left likes to say, democracy dies in darkness."