Aliza Norwood, MD, an internal medicine physician and HIV specialist at Vivent Health in Austin, Texas, said the ruling in the case is “prejudiced” and “simply wrong” in a column for NBC News.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor sided with Braidwood Management, a Texas company that brought the suit, which said providing coverage for HIV prevention drugs, commonly known as PrEP, to its employees violated its religious beliefs.
“PrEP is used by hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. of all sexual orientations and gender,” Dr. Norwood said. “I see many patients, young and old, gay and straight, of all races and political affiliations, who do not fit the narrow stereotypes mentioned in the lawsuit.”
The ruling could open the door to striking down the provision of the ACA that requires payers to cover preventive care at no cost.
“With American life expectancy declining and health care costs rising, we should all be worried about the implications of this ruling,” Dr. Norwood said. If we handicap our ability to prevent diseases, our nation will become sicker and weaker.”
Read the full column here.
