Federal Judge Grants Preliminary Injunction on CMS Enforcing COVID-19 Vaccine Rule
According to a Dec. 1 article from The National Law Review, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has granted a preliminary injunction enjoining the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate nationwide.
We reported on Nov. 11 that 10 state attorneys general sued the Biden administration over the CMS vaccine mandate that had been created through the issuance of an interim final rule, asserting federal overreach. The attorneys general of Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and New Hampshire jointly filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis.
On Nov. 19, we reported that West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s office published a press release announcing that West Virginia, and 11 other states, joined a lawsuit against the Biden Administration in opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates for healthcare workers, including those working for Medicare and Medicaid certified providers and suppliers. In addition to West Virginia, attorneys general from Louisiana, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah are plaintiffs in the case.
Kentucky and Ohio joined the case in the following weeks.
On Nov. 30, we reported that a federal judge in Missouri has temporarily blocked the Biden administration vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in 10 states.
Now, the Louisiana federal court has granted the states’ proposal for a preliminary injunction that not only stops the CMS rule requiring COVID-19 vaccination for healthcare workers in their own states but across the entire U.S.
The article states that “Like its Missouri counterpart, the Western District of Louisiana held that CMS lacked authority to implement the mandate. Recognizing the need for uniformity, the court imposed the injunction nationwide, despite only 14 states being a party to the lawsuit before it.”
Further, “The Biden Administration has filed a notice of appeal of the Eastern District of Missouri’s preliminary injunction. A similar appeal of this nationwide action is expected. CMS-covered providers and suppliers, as well as indirectly affected third parties that provide services at covered providers and suppliers, are left without certainty.”
