The state of Vermont must pay a medical data mining company $2.4 million in legal fees in a case in which the firm successfully argued that a state law trying to restrict its activities violated the First Amendment.
IMS Health Inc. had sued the state over a law that required the company to get doctors’ permission before selling data on their prescription writing habits to drug makers. The drug companies use the data to tailor drug sales pitches.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the company last year. IMS then asked the U.S. District Court in Vermont for $4.2 million in legal fees and costs in bringing its suit, with rates as high as $875 per hour.
The court scaled that request back to $2.4 million.