Appeals court blocks Trump admin program that benefits drug manufacturers at the expense of low-income and rural
Source: Law & Crime
Jan 8th, 2026, 4:08 pm
The Trump administration cannot move forward with a new program "that benefits drug manufacturers" at the expense of low-income hospitals, a federal appellate court ruled Wednesday.
In a case brought by the American Hospital Association and several regional hospitals against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a unanimous panel on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found a pilot drug rebate program likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the federal statute governing agency actions.
The appellate court's seven-page ruling maintains the status quo as a district court previously issued an injunction against the pilot program.
Last summer, HHS announced it was changing the contours of the 340B program, which for decades has offered an "upfront discount" to patients at rural and low-income hospitals. In December 2025, the plaintiffs filed a 65-page lawsuit, alleging the government was acting to advance the long-sought goals of the pharmaceutical industry by shifting to a "rebate" mode
Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/does-not-contain-any-evidence-appeals-court-blocks-trump-admin-program-that-benefits-drug-manufacturers-at-the-expense-of-low-income-and-rural-hospitals/
Full headline: 'Does not contain any evidence': Appeals court blocks Trump admin program 'that benefits drug manufacturers' at the expense of low-income and rural hospitals
Unanimous - 3 Biden judges.
Link to ORDER( PDF viewer) - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26462535-aha-v-kennedy-1cca-stay-denial/
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26462535/aha-v-kennedy-1cca-stay-denial.pdf
Link to Dec. 2025 SUIT (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.med.69459/gov.uscourts.med.69459.1.0.pdf