The abortion pill case could cause problems in the health care system
U.S. Supreme Court Rules to Protect Access to Hormones in the Era of the Roe v. Wade Trial: The Case of Gen BioPro
Gen BioPro wants a federal court to force the FDA to preserve access after they objected to the agency’s interpretation of the decision. The company says its generic form of the drug accounts for two-thirds of it’s sales in the US.
Unless the court intervenes, a temporary stay from the Supreme Court is set to end at midnight. If the stay expires, an order from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would take effect and impose multiple restrictions, including prohibiting the pills from being distributed by mail.
In a statement, one of the lawyers in the case said the outcome could have bigger implications for other medications.
“If far-right groups are able to interfere in drug availability in the country without regulatory protections it will have dire implications for the industry,” he said. “If this were to be the case, few companies would be incentivized to develop and bring essential medications to market.”
The Justice Department, acting on behalf of the FDA, asked the Supreme Court to keep the pill available. Justice Samuel Alito put a hold on the rulings until the high court decided on the issue.
Many drugs have been taken off the market because of risks to patients or commercial reasons. No court has halted the FDA’s approval of a drug before.
The drug regulatory system of the United States has been seriously jeopardized by the fact that there is a lawsuit trying to restrict access to abortion. We must be cleareyed; upholding any parts of the district court’s dangerous ruling would in all likelihood almost immediately prompt challenges to other longstanding safe and effective F.D.A.-approved drugs that doctors and patients rely on every day.
In their zeal to continue upending abortion access after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, legislators, activists and litigants have pushed increasingly extreme measures that disregard medical science, insert government into the exam room and increase the odds of maternal deaths. Not satisfied with banning abortion in their home states, some lawmakers are trying to restrict access in other states as well — a chilling attempt to intimidate patients and physicians alike.
After three years of politicization fueled by disinformation, this would surely include challenges to many vaccines, including those that reduce the risks of serious illness from Covid-19. We should expect lawsuits against common types of safe and highly effective hormonal birth control, including emergency contraception. Drugs used to treat cancer and arthritis are at risk, as are drugs to prevent or treat H.I.V., and medications aimed at providing gender-affirming care.
