June 19, 2013

Maine pays $678K in legal fees in drug case

BY: AP Staff Writer OCTOBER 31, 2012 | MODIFIED: OCTOBER 31, 2012 AT 1:02 PM
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AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage says the state has paid $678,000 in legal fees in a court case that shot down a Maine law restricting drug manufacturers' use of information about the drugs doctors prescribe.

IMS Health Inc. sued the state of Vermont over a law requiring it to get doctors' permission before selling data on their prescription-writing habits to drug companies to use to tailor sales pitches.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year ruled that Vermont's law was unconstitutional, thereby making a similar law in Maine — which was passed in 2007, before LePage became governor — unconstitutional as well.

A federal judge last month ordered Maine to pay $678,000 in IMS Health's legal fees related to the case.

Vermont this year was ordered to pay $2.4 million in legal fees.

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