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On December 30, 2024, the NAM filed an amicus brief urging the 6th Circuit to reverse the district court’s clean break from the associational standing principles long enshrined in Supreme Court and 6th Circuit case law. In this case, business groups alleged: (1) the Biden Administration’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program established by the Inflation Reduction Act violates the Due Process Clause by failing to provide procedural protection from the deprivation of manufacturers’ property; (2) the government’s imposition of an excise tax if a manufacturer refuses to agree to the government’s “fair price” for their drug violates the Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines clause; and (3) that the program violates the First Amendment by requiring manufacturers to agree that the government’s price is the “maximum fair price” for their drugs. The government moved to dismiss the case for lack of standing and improper venue and the district court granted the motion.

To establish associational standing, an association must show that (1) its members would otherwise have standing to sue in their own right, (2) the interests at stake are germane to the organization’s purpose, and (3) neither the claim asserted nor the relief requested requires the participation of individual members in the lawsuit. The Southern District of Ohio identified “the interests at stake in this lawsuit as the constitutional rights of the affected members of the Plaintiff associations,” which include AbbVie and Pharmacyclics. The court concluded that the plaintiffs failed to establish that those interests are germane to the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce’s purpose—“improving the business climate in Dayton, Ohio.” Similarly, the court concluded that the plaintiffs failed to satisfy the germane requirement vis-à-vis the Ohio and Michigan Chambers of Commerce—who advocate for business throughout their respective states—because “Plaintiffs have not explained how any named members have interests in Ohio or Michigan.” Thus, the court reasoned that the state and local groups lacked associational standing because the interests at stake in the lawsuit are not germane to their purpose. Further, the court concluded, venue for the national group’s claims is improper in an Ohio federal court because the Court has found that no Ohio group has standing to sue, and the plaintiffs failed to propose an alternative appropriate venue. The business groups appealed the district court’s decision to the 6th Circuit.

We argued in our amicus brief that AbbVie’s and Pharmacyclics’ decision to associate with the Dayton Area Chamber and statewide chambers demonstrates that they entrust that group to advocate for their interests, including through federal policy. The government’s designation of the drug manufacturers’ drugs as one of the ten drugs subject to negotiation leaves no doubt that the interest at stake in this litigation are germane to the business associations’ interests. Opposing governmental action damaging to its named members is obviously germane to a business association’s purpose.