Maldanado (formerly N.B.) v. District of Columbia, D.C. District Court, D.C. Circuit

Executive Summary

Plaintiffs filed this class action case on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries in the District of Columbia whose requests for outpatient prescription drugs are denied by pharmacy providers without written notice or opportunity to be heard. Plaintiffs claim that the failure to provide individualized written notice violates the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that plaintiffs have such a right. Most recently, the District issued a policy calling for written denial notices, and the district court granted the District’s motion to dismiss the case as moot. Plaintiffs argue the case is not moot because their reviews of area pharmacies found most of them are not adhering to the District’s instruction. Plaintiffs have appealed the decision to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.