The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has serious concerns about the impact of the Supreme Court’s rulings in Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v Department of Commerce on cancer care. These decisions overturned the “Chevron deference” or “Chevron doctrine,” a legal principle that compelled federal courts to defer to a federal agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous or unclear statute that Congress delegated to the agency to administer.
ASCO is concerned that these decisions may unpredictably and unevenly alter the authority of the federal agencies that regulate health care in the United States, which could fragment and disrupt the delivery of cancer care in this country.
Eric P. Winer, MD, FASCO
ASCO Board Chair Eric P. Winer, MD, FASCO, commented: “The Supreme Court decisions overturning the long-standing role of administrative agencies upends the complex and interdependent framework on which the U.S. health-care system is built by looking to judges rather than experts within federal agencies when implementing our country’s laws. These decisions now call into question the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authority over prescription drugs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) ability to determine eligibility for critical public health insurance programs as well as essential physician and hospital payments, and many other federal agencies’ authority to implement important guardrails for people with cancer in this country.”
Dr. Winer continued: “Deferring to judges and courts rather than expert administrative agencies such as [the] FDA, CMS, and others could harm people with cancer and the providers who care for them. Furthermore, Congress and the courts cannot be expected to act with the speed and scope necessary to address every complex regulatory issue involved in administering health care in the United States.”
“ASCO will continue to analyze the impacts of this ruling and will do everything possible to protect patient access to high-quality, equitable cancer care,” concluded Dr. Winer.
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