Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

DC CircuitAug 18, 2026

Split Score

SplitScore: 42/100

Case Summary

Disposition

Affirmed in Part

Teva challenged CMS guidance implementing the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, arguing that CMS unlawfully grouped two of its drugs as one “qualifying single source drug,” imposed an extra-statutory “bona fide” marketing requirement, and violated due-process rights. The 12th Circuit held that the statute’s review bar does not prevent courts from reviewing CMS’s general legal standards, upheld CMS’s drug-grouping rule, found Teva’s challenge to the bona-fide-marketing standard ripe and remanded that issue, and rejected Teva’s due-process claim. Accordingly, the panel affirmed most of the district court’s judgment, reversed in part, and remanded on the marketing-requirement claim.

View Full Opinion Document (PDF)

Circuit Split Identified

Legal Issue

Whether 42 U.S.C. § 1320f-7(2) bars judicial review of generally-applicable CMS rules (interpretations and guidance) or only bars review of drug-specific determinations made under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program.

Circuit Positions

DC Circuit(this circuit)

Narrow interpretation – § 1320f-7(2) bars review only of the final drug-specific determinations; courts may review CMS’s generally applicable legal standards and guidance.

Circuit 3

Broad interpretation – § 1320f-7(2) bars review of both drug-specific determinations and the legal standards/guidance that produce those determinations (‘inextricably intertwined’ approach).

Conflict Summary

The 3rd Circuit reads the IRA review bar broadly, holding that it precludes courts from reviewing both CMS’s drug-specific selections and the general standards or guidance underlying those selections. The 12th Circuit (this opinion) interprets the same provision narrowly, allowing judicial review of CMS’s generally applicable legal standards while accepting that drug-specific selections themselves remain unreviewable.

Parties & Counsel

Parties

Appellant:Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., et al.
Appellee:Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in his official capacity as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Mehmet Oz, in his official capacity as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Legal Counsel

Appellant:Sean Marotta (Hogan Lovells) argued; with Danielle Desaulniers Stempel, Dana A. Raphael, and Katherine T. McKay on the briefs
Appellee:Maxwell A. Baldi, U.S. Department of Justice; with Eric J. Hamilton, Michael S. Raab, and Kenneth R. Whitley on the brief