EPW writ of certiorari

Executive Summary

Supreme Court declines to hear Genetics Institute's EPO petition. The justices offered no comment on the petition denial; however, historically, the Supreme Court has refused to hear patent cases. . . . Rep. Stark on Epogen: During a House Ways & Means Committee hearing on health care reform Oct. 10, the California Democrat decried the high price of the product, noting that Medicare will pay $ 400 mil. for Epogen next year. Stark asked HHS Secretary Sullivan whether the Bush Administration intends "to use Medicare as a form of industrial policy." Sullivan responded that the drug is priced "exceedingly high" but pointed out that EPO is an orphan product for a rare disease. After arranging with Amgen for development, HHS wanted to avoid "changing goalposts once the game was begun," Sullivan said. . . .