New Supreme Court Ruling Could Complicate Health Agencies’ Job
A sweeping Supreme Court decision limiting the power of federal agencies will likely have a significant impact on how the nation’s health department makes federal policy, several legal experts and former health agency staffers said.
“This will probably be one of the most important decisions – at least in the regulatory realm – of our lifetime,” he said. James Huang, a partner in a law firm Hogan Lovellss health care practice.
The 6-3 opinion, which split along ideological lines, could slow rulemaking and lead to a wave of lawsuits challenging decisions made by the Food and Drug Administration And Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The details: The Supreme Court on Friday overturned a 40-year-old legal precedent known as Chevron doctrine, which instructed judges to defer to an agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous law as long as that interpretation was reasonable. Chevron has long been a target of conservatives who argue that federal bureaucrats wield too much power — and the Supreme Court’s vast conservative majority agrees.
Huang likened the decision’s impact to a “slow burn” as litigants test the waters for a post-judicial situation.Chevron The era and the courts are adapting to the new reality.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who wrote the majority opinion, called Chevron “impracticable.” This framework, he writes, allows agencies to “change course even when Congress has not given them the authority to do so.”
ChevronThe supporters of argue that the doctrine gave government experts the flexibility to supplement the details of general laws and respond to technological advances.
Justice Elena KaganIn her dissent, she argued that government regulators are best suited to address highly technical issues. To support her argument, she posed two complex health care questions: What constitutes a protein that the FDA regulates? And how should the Medicare program measure a “geographic area” when calculating reimbursements to hospitals based on wage levels in certain regions?
So how will the Supreme Court’s decision play out? That will depend in part on decisions by lower courts over the next few years.
Opponents of certain rules can use the post-Chevron The media landscape could fuel doubts about policies they don’t like. This in turn could make agencies, like the FDA and CMS, more cautious. Decision-making could be slower and agencies will likely have to devote more resources to preparing for litigation, experts and former health officials say.
As Stacy Amine — a former FDA chief attorney who now works at a law firm Morrison Foerster — states: “This definitely puts the FDA in a weaker position. »
For its part, the FDA could rely more on issuing guidance rather than establishing policy through rulemaking, according to Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner. “Non-binding guidelines might be subject to less judicial review since they are not binding,” he told Health Brief.
- The justices’ decision could impact broad areas, including some food safety regulations and a recent effort by the agency to regulate certain tests According to the FDA, they are not reliable. But courts should continue to defer to the FDA in deciding whether to approve an individual product, Gottlieb wrote on X.
When it comes to Medicare and Medicaid, these are complex areas in which officials are creating new ways to solve pressing policy problems based on new interpretations of the law. The Supreme Court’s decision could make these interpretations — from defining certain terms for Medicare drug negotiation to crafting policy for Medicaid’s drug reimbursement program — more vulnerable to lawsuits, experts said legal.
And one more thing: Today is another opinion day (although it is unusual for the Court to continue its work in July). The Supreme Court has yet to rule on a case aimed at determining when plaintiffs can challenge government regulations in court — another decision that could affect federal agencies.
David Ovalle contributed to this report.
Dengue fever wreaks havoc worldwide: A wake-up call for the United States
So far this year, a record 10 million people have contracted dengue fever — an unprecedented increase that scientists say is fueled in part by climate change, according to the Post. Lena H. Soleil And Sarah Kaplan report.
Rising global temperatures have accelerated the life cycles and expanded the ranges of dengue-carrying mosquitoes. That led to an influx of patients overwhelming hospitals from Brazil to Bangladesh, reminiscent of the worst days of the coronavirus pandemic. Puerto Rico declared a state of health emergency in the spring as the number of dengue cases reported in the first five months of 2024 exceeded the total for all of last year.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of an increased risk of dengue infections in the United States. The agency urged doctors to be alert for the disease when treating feverish patients who have traveled to areas where dengue is transmitted. Public health officials are preparing for the virus to emerge in more temperate regions, including the southernmost parts of the United States.
We know more from Lena, who sent us this dispatch:
FDA says latest study confirms pasteurization kills bird flu
U.S. officials say a new study that recreated commercial pasteurization in a government lab confirms that heat treatment kills the bird flu virus in cow’s milk.
The study published Friday has not yet been peer-reviewed. Researchers from FDA and the United States Department of Agriculture used custom-designed equipment to simulate commercial milk processing in a lab in Athens, Georgia. They found that the most commonly used pasteurization time and temperature — 161 degrees for 15 seconds — was effective at inactivating the H5N1 virus in raw milk, and in some cases, the virus was killed before it even reached that temperature.
Other studies to simulate pasteurization have found infectious viruses in laboratory tests. The FDA’s initial sampling of milk from supermarket shelves found no viable avian influenza virus.
Iowa’s highest court rules in favor of six-week abortion ban
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that a six-week abortion ban could go into effect, the latest court ruling aimed at restricting access to abortion, according to The Post. Annie Gowen reports.
The measure restricts abortion after detection of fetal heart activity at around six weeks. Planned Parenthood and others won a preliminary injunction from a lower court, which had kept abortion temporarily legal in the state up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.
What happened: Last year, the Republican-controlled legislature passed its abortion ban after the state Supreme Court deadlocked over whether to reinstate a similar 2018 law. In a 4-3 decision Friday, the court overturned a temporary injunction put in place by a district court last year while allowing ongoing litigation at that level to proceed.
And after: Under Iowa court rules, it takes at least 21 days for the case to be remanded to district court. Abortion will remain legal in the state until that date.
In Nevada, a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution has met all requirements to go to voters in November, the department said. Associated Press Voters must approve the question in 2024 and 2026 for it to become a constitutional amendment.
Republican leaders call for investigations into alleged Obamacare fraud
House Republican leaders are asking government watchdogs to investigate health insurance enrollment through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, The Post reported. Dan Diamond reports.
Prominent Republicans cite reports that insurance brokers are fraudulently enrolling customers in some ACA health plans and that millions of Americans may be wrongly benefiting from federal subsidies.
The chairs of the Energy and Commerce House, Means and methods And Judicial Commissions asked Friday that the Government Accountability Office and the inspector general of the federal Department of Health opens investigations into possible registration fraud.
📅 Both the House and Senate are on recess this week. Happy 4th of July holiday!
Private sector lobbyists consider new lawsuits after Supreme Court limits federal power (Tony Romm | The Washington Post)
Abortion rights groups say Florida is trying to erect barriers to the amendment (Arek Sarkissian | Politico)
Cancer victims lose bid to block J&J Talc bankruptcy plan (By Brendan Pierson | Reuters)
How is bird flu spread in cows? Experience yields “good news.” (By Carl Zimmer | The New York Times)
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