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WASHINGTON — A federal court judge allowed a new Medicare drug price negotiation program to proceed while the court deliberates whether it is constitutional.

The case centers on Democrats’ new law, which empowered the Medicare program to start negotiating lower prices for certain medicines that are especially expensive for the government. Judge Michael Newman, a Trump appointee to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, ruled against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which had sued the federal government and asked for the program to be stopped while litigation continues.

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Medicare officials announced the first 10 drugs they would negotiate over last month, and the deadline for the pharmaceutical companies to sign agreements to start bargaining is Oct. 1. The Chamber of Commerce had requested a decision on the preliminary injunction by that date.

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