From Raw Story: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/10/judge-blasts-obama-administration-request-for-a-stay-to-his-plan-b-as-alternative-reality/
By Megan Carpentier
Friday, May 10, 2013
Judge Edward Korman of the Eastern District of New York gave no quarter to the Administration in his ruling this morning declining to issue a stay to his April ruling that made emergency contraceptives available over the counter pending the outcome of the Administration’s appeal. Korman not only repeated his assertions that the Administration was acting in bad faith by trying to dictate the terms of women’s access to Plan B for political reasons, but noted that the deal it struck with one manufacturer to keep it out of the lawsuit would serve to drive up prices to that manufacturer’s certain benefit.
In a ruling filled with harsh language for the government — he called their arguments “silly,” “something out of an alternative reality ” an “an insult to the intelligence of women” and “frivolous” and referred to Sebelius’ conduct “improper” — Korman noted that the supposed concerns for the well-being of younger potential users of emergency contraceptives were “a red herring to justify the continued burdens suffered by older women who seek access to the drug.” He also stated that the agency’s argument that the stay was necessary to preserve public confidence in the FDA’s decisions was paradoxical on its face because it was Sebelius’ order overturning the FDA’s decision that started the case: “If a stay is denied, the public can have confidence that the FDA’s judgment is being vindicated, and if a stay is granted, it will allow the bad-faith, politically motivated decision of Secretary Sebelius, who lacks any medical or scientific expertise, to prevail—thus justifiably undermining the public’s confidence in the drug approval process.”
Korman, whose April 5, 2013 decision directed the FDA and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to make emergency contraceptives available over the counter regardless of the manufacturer, was issued in response to a Citizen Petition requesting the action. That petition was filed after Sebelius rejected an application by emergency contraceptive manufacturer Teva Women’s Health to market their product over the counter — an application that had initially been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Korman ruled that the decision to deny the Citizen Petition was “politically motivated, scientifically unjustified, and contrary to agency precedent.” But, he wrote, the decision in April was not limited to Teva, which manufactures the brand-name emergency contraceptive “Plan B” and had not sued for a reversal of the Secretary’s decision. Instead, it applied to all levonorgestrel-based emergency contraceptives. (Korman did leave room for the FDA to approve only one-pill variants of levonorgestrel-based emergency contraceptives in his decision, which had been the FDA’s first decision, though the suit called for both varieties to be made available over the counter.)
Continue reading at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/10/judge-blasts-obama-administration-request-for-a-stay-to-his-plan-b-as-alternative-reality/
See Also:
New York Times: Judge in NYC Refuses to Suspend His Plan B Ruling
Huffington Post: Obama Administration’s Plan B Appeal Denied By Federal Judge
