State Action to Lower Prescription Drug Prices: Navigating the Dormant Commerce Clause

The high cost of prescription drugs harms health and exacerbates disparities. Leveraging their traditional public health powers, states have pursued and adopted various innovative approaches to lower prescription drug prices. But these efforts are often met with litigation challenges, which sometimes derail the policies or chill policy momentum.

To help demystify litigation challenges, the Center for Health Policy and the Law is launching a series of publications addressing the common arguments that are made in litigation challenging state prescription drug pricing policies. In this first installment of the series, we address arguments over the Dormant Commerce Clause, explain how the courts have dealt with those arguments, and lay out how policymakers and other stakeholders may craft sound policies that can withstand Dormant-Commerce-Clause-based arguments.