The Courts

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (Jan. 3) did not issue a ruling on high profile case over the Affordable Care Act, despite speculation a decision potentially could come due to Friday’s announcement that some opinions would be out Feb. 3.

The Department of Justice asked a federal appeals court to put a suit over the Trump administration’s association health plan rule on hold for 60 days to allow the new administration a chance to review the case, which has been pending for more than a year.

The Biden administration on Tuesday (Jan. 26) requested an extra 60 days to respond to the drug industry’s lawsuit against the Trump administration’s drug import rule.

Affordable Care Act supporters as expected sued the Trump administration last week for allowing Georgia to leave healthcare.gov and instead rely on brokers and agents to enroll consumers in health plans starting in 2022.

U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster will allow plaintiffs in the national multi-district opioid litigation to obtain and preserve former FDA chief David Kessler’s expert testimony so that it can be used at future trials if he is again named FDA commissioner or takes on another official role under the Biden administration that could prevent him from testifying as an expert witness in the case.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday (Dec. 29) ruled that HHS can move forward with its controversial hospital price transparency rule on Jan. 1, agreeing with a lower court just days before the rule was set to go into effect.

Federal Judge Catherine Blake said Friday she will rule by Dec. 24 on whether to put on hold the Trump administration’s plan to tie Medicare Part B reimbursement to foreign drug prices.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday (Dec. 10) in favor of an Arkansas law that regulates how much pharmacy benefit managers can pay pharmacies, clearing the way for the more than 40 states with similar laws that aim to use PBM regulation to control drug prices.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and three groups representing doctors and patients filed suit Friday (Dec. 4) against the Trump administration’s demonstration that ties Medicare doctor reimbursement to foreign drug prices, and at press time the Biotechnology Innovation Organization was poised to file a separate suit in a federal court in California.