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WASHINGTON — Pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to scuttle President Biden’s signature health care achievement, empowering Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, will soon face their first big tests.

District court judges could soon weigh in on the litany of court cases that major companies filed against the government — shedding light on whether drugmakers have any hope of postponing the first parts of the negotiation process, scrapping it entirely, or sending the issue up to the Supreme Court.

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It’s a major moment for the Biden administration, too, as the White House ramps up its efforts to take credit for the new changes in the 2024 election. The first round of legal decisions will play out in the thick of campaign season, attorneys told STAT.

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