Three-member panel partially overruled Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling in Texas last week<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Physician\u2019s Briefing Staff HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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THURSDAY, April 13, 2023 (HealthDay News) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday said the abortion pill mifepristone could remain available for now. But the court’s judges added some provisions to their ruling: a block on mailing the pill to patients as well as stays on other measures the federal government has taken recently to boost access to the medication.<\/p>\n
The three-member panel partially overruled Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling in Texas last week, which said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone back in 2000 was invalid.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Justice Department had filed its appeal<\/a> of the Texas ruling on Monday. “If allowed to take effect, the court’s order would thwart FDA’s scientific judgment and severely harm women, particularly those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity,” the appeal stated.<\/p>\n In its preliminary ruling filed on Wednesday, the federal appeals court suggested a statute of limitations bars any legal challenge to the FDA approval of mifepristone. The court also seemed to consider the government’s view that removing a long-approved drug from the market would have “significant public consequences.”<\/p>\n But it left in place parts of Kacsmaryk’s ruling that rolled back a loosening of restrictions on mifepristone by the FDA in recent years. That includes a 2016 move to allow the drug to be used through 10 weeks of pregnancy instead of the initial seven weeks, as well as a decision this year to allow retail pharmacies to dispense the pills.<\/p>\n The Justice Department is likely to appeal the latest order to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n