U.S. tariffs on biopharmaceuticals have advanced beyond administration talking points.As a precursor to tariffs, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick initiated an investigation under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to determine the effects on national security of importing prescription drugs, according to a request for public comments scheduled to be published in the April 16 Federal Register. Publication of the notice will kick off a 21-day comment period.

The nationwide preliminary injunction keeping the U.S. NIH from slashing its indirect cost rate to a flat 15% has become permanent. In issuing the permanent injunction and final judgment April 4 in three challenges to the rate change, Judge Angel Kelley, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, said the NIH’s Feb. 7 notice that it would begin imposing the 15% rate Feb. 10 to all existing and future grants violated the Administrative Procedure Act, as the action was arbitrary and capricious, was impermissibly retroactive and failed to follow notice-and-comment procedures.

U.S. law allows whistleblowers to file suit for violations the False Claims Act, but the legality of these qui tam relators under the Appointments Clause is under intense scrutiny thanks to a case heard in Florida district court.