Ciarpaglini v. Norwood

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Mootness Doctrine
Citation
Case Number: 
No. 14-1588
Decision Date: 
March 25, 2016
Federal District: 
N.D. Ill., W. Div.
Holding: 
Remanded

Record failed to contain sufficient evidence to support Dist. Ct.’s order dismissing as moot plaintiff’s lawsuit that challenged Illinois statute that caps at four number of prescriptions that Medicare recipients can receive without prior approval within 30-day period, where, during pendency of lawsuit, plaintiff was switched to managed care program that does not have such cap. While defendants asserted that plaintiff’s move from fee-for-service program to managed care program was part of much broader policy shift that rendered it highly unlikely that plaintiff would ever be switched back to fee-for service program that would be subject to challenged statute, remand was required to allow plaintiff ability to discover nature and extent of defendant’s alleged policy shift. Ct. rejected plaintiff’s claim that capable of repetition yet evading review exception to mootness doctrine applied since ordinary course of litigation should suffice to address plaintiff’s concerns in any future lawsuit. Also, record failed to establish sincerity of plaintiff’s claim that he wants to move to different county in state that uses fee-for-service program that would subject him to challenged statute.