texas

Government Can't Mandate Coverage for Drugs That Prevent HIV Infections, Texas Federal Judge Rules

The lawsuit challenged a provision of the Affordable Care Act that required free coverage of the HIV drugs Truvada and Descovy, commonly known as PrEP

Getty Images/Justin Sullivan, File File Photo: Bottles of antiretroviral drug Truvada are displayed at Jack’s Pharmacy on November 23, 2010 in San Anselmo, California.

A federal judge in Texas has ruled that a provision of the Affordable Care Act that mandates free coverage of certain drugs that prevent HIV infections violates the religious beliefs of a Christian-owned company.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor came in response to a lawsuit filed by Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general and a conservative activist, on behalf of Braidwood Management Inc. and other self-described Christian employers and employees.

The 2020 lawsuit challenged a provision of the ACA that required free coverage of the HIV drugs Truvada and Descovy, commonly known as PrEP, that hundreds of thousands of people in America — mostly gay and bisexual men — take.

HIV prevention groups were quick to decry O'Connor's ruling as a "terrible judicial decision."

Read the full story at NBCNews.com.

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