On Dec. 30, the District Court of Maine issued a Preliminary Injunction (PI) blocking implementation of the 340B rebate pilot. This is good news, as PI’s generally remains in effect much longer than a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). On Jan. 7, the First Circuit (aka Appeals) Court upheld the lower court decision blocking HHS from implementing the 340B rebate pilot as planned this month. The Court’s three-member panel unanimously rejected HHS’ request to immediately overturn the Preliminary Injunction issued by the District Court of Maine. In its order, the First Circuit concluded that HHS had “failed to carry its burden” of showing it was likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal. The First Circuit also ordered an expedited briefing schedule, saying it “intends to resolve the appeal without undue delay.” Per 340B Report, this means the First Circuit will rule on the full merits of HHS’ appeal before sending it back to the Maine district court for further proceedings. Here are two resources that may be helpful for your CHC:
- A list of the Practical Implications of the PI on CHCs to answer the question “What does this decision mean for our CHC?”
- A Summary of Key Points from the initial court order. These include the reasons why the judge thinks the plaintiffs has a “substantial likelihood” of winning their case, and some general background on PI’s.