A pharmaceutical company that produces mifepristone asked the Supreme Court on Saturday to lift a lower court’s ruling prohibiting health providers from dispensing the abortion pill by mail.
In an emergency application filed Saturday, Danco Laboratories argued that Friday’s ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “causes immediate confusion and dramatic upheaval for manufacturers, distributors, providers, pharmacies, and patients around the country.”
“The resulting chaos for patients, providers, pharmacies, and the drug-regulatory system is a quintessential irreparable harm that underscores the need for emergency relief from this Court,” lawyers for the company wrote in their filing.
In this April 13, 2023, file photo, packages of Mifepristone tablets are displayed at a family planning clinic, in Rockville, Md.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, FILE
The lower court’s order takes effect immediately and temporarily blocks 2023 Food and Drug Administration guidelines from the Biden administration that had eased access to the pill, citing an ongoing safety review by the Trump administration. The stay is in place as litigation continues.
The application comes two years after the justices unanimously rejected a similar legal challenge to mifepristone, concluding that the doctors and anti-abortion groups who sued over the drug did not have standing.
In their application on Saturday, lawyers for Danco Laboratories urged the justices to reach the same “unambiguous” conclusion about this new legal challenge, which was brought by the state of Louisiana. The application argued that Louisiana is not directly impacted by the FDA’s approval of the drug and should not be able to bring the case.
Lawyers for the pharmaceutical company also argued that yesterday’s ruling “injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions.”
“What happens when patients arrive for scheduled appointments this weekend and beyond, or walk into pharmacies in New York, Minnesota, Washington, and many other states today to obtain Mifeprex that was prescribed by a provider yesterday? What should a patient do if she cannot obtain an in-person appointment immediately?” the application said.
In addition to asking for a stay of the lower court’s ruling, Danco Laboratories urged the justices to take the case up on the merits. Since the case stems from the 5th Circuit, the application was filed with Justice Samuel Alito, though he is likely to refer the matter to the full court.
“Never before has a federal court purported to immediately enjoin a several years’ old drug approval; restrict a distribution system for that drug that manufacturers, providers, patients, and pharmacies have all been using for years; or reinstate conditions that FDA determined do not meet the mandatory statutory criteria,” the filing said.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, whose office is a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement on Friday, “I look forward to continuing to defend women and babies as this case continues.”
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