Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based Summit Medical Group's plans to establish an on-site specialty pharmacy for cancer patients were denied by a state appeals court.
The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division issued its May 12 denial because a pharmacy that would only distribute cancer drug prescriptions written by Summit doctors violates New Jersey's physician anti-referral law. The court cited the state's Codey Law, which prohibits physicians from making referrals to healthcare services in which they have financial interest.
Summit's initial application was filed in November 2017 and denied in October 2018 due to the proposed pharmacy's Codey Law infraction. Summit appealed in November 2018 but could not prove its pharmacy would fit the exception requirements outlined in the Codey Law.
Codey Law exceptions allow physicians to refer patients to medical treatment provided at their medical office, but the court found that filling prescriptions does not fall within the state's legal definition of medical treatment.
Read the full decision here.
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