Maryland Legislature Sends Generic Drug Price Gouging Bill to Governor

The Maryland state legislature has approved a bill to ban excessive price increases for generics and off-patent drugs, and is sending it to the state’s governor for final approval.

The measure would limit increases in wholesale acquisition costs to less than 50 percent within a one-year period, and it allows the state’s attorney general to sue drugmakers over gouging the prices of essential generic medicines, including naloxone and epinephrine.

If signed, the law would take effect Oct. 1. If the attorney general sues a company, a court would then decide whether the increases in prices affect access to critical therapies, allowing for civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.

Other states, such as Vermont, have passed price transparency laws that require manufacturers to justify increases.