Case versus ESI-Medco merger is still alive

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — If you have a glass-half-full perspective, then the court's ruling to deny the proposed preliminary injunction to the Express Scripts-Medco marriage means none of this is over. The case still stands. However, the court has deferred the decision on the plaintiffs' motion seeking a permanent injunction until after the court decides on ESI's motion to dismiss the case altogether. That may mean a decision on that motion could come sooner than later, considering the plaintiffs requested an expedited discovery schedule with the first motion.



(THE NEWS: Report: Preliminary injunction to block ESI-Medco merger denied. For the full story, click here)



If you're a glass-half-empty kind of person, you're really hoping the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh doesn't chug the rest of that Kool-Aid. Because a dismissal of the case places the ESI-Medco merger one step closer to permanently consummating the pharmacy benefit manager merger. Should NACDS, NCPA and the nine individual pharmacies choose to appeal a dismissal, then the case would go across state to Philadelphia, where it would be heard by the Unites States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.



In Philadelphia, at least, DrugStoreNews.com reader Kwconverse may have a posted question answered: "What ever happened to the laws our founding fathers set forth years ago? Have we become such a greedy society that it no longer matters what is best for the people that are insured, but what [matters is what] is best for the company?"

To weigh in on the conversation, click here.