SANTA ANA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – The operators of several dialysis clinics and kidney care facilities in California and throughout the U.S. are challenging the state's newly enacted Assembly Bill 290, which regulates dialysis reimbursement.
Fresenius Medical Care Orange County LLC; Davita Inc.; Fresenius Medical Care Holdings Inc., doing business as Fresenius Medical Care North America; and U.S. Renal Care Inc. filed a complaint Nov. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California-Southern Division against California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and others alleging violation of the First and 14th Amendments.
In their suit, the plaintiffs claim, the bill "imposes burdensome and punitive regulations on persons suffering from a specific life-threatening illness, their medical providers" and on the national charity, the American Kidney Foundation, in its efforts to help "patients secure health care needed to keep them alive."
The plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that AB 290 is unconstitutional and for preliminary and permanent injunctive relief barring the bill's enforcement. They are represented by David Ogden and Kelly Dunbar of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in Washington, D.C.; Kelsi Corkran of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in Washington, D.C.; and Stuart Kurlander and Michael Bern of Latham & Watkins LLP in Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Southern Division case number 8:19-CV-02130-DOC-ADS