Appeals Court Narrows Ruling On CMS Mandates Jeopardizing TN Healthcare Workers

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

On December 15th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District in Louisiana affirmed a district court injunction against the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. 

However, their ruling narrowed the scope of the injunction to only the plaintiff jurisdictions.  

The national stay on the vaccine mandate now only applies to the 14 states that filed the lawsuit.  And Tennessee is not on the list.

The opinion of the appeals court was to uphold the district court’s decision to issue a preliminary injunction, but concluded there was no basis for a nationwide injunction.

The Louisiana court stated, “Though we deny the stay generally, we also consider whether the preliminary injunction should remain in effect beyond the 14 states that have brought this suit. Principles of judicial restraint control here. Other courts are considering these same issues, with several courts already and inconsistently ruling.”

But went on to say, “In addition, the many states that have not brought suit may well have accepted and even endorsed the vaccination rule.”

The court opinion concluded with the statement, “This vaccine rule is an issue of great significance currently being litigated throughout the country. Its ultimate resolution will benefit from ‘the airing of competing views’ in our sister circuits. Though here too, as with the other issues before us, we are not in a position to make definitive pronouncements about the outcome of this appeal.”

Gary Humble from Tennessee Stands reminded followers on social media of the frustration critics of the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers felt when the Tennessee legislature exempted federal contractors and gave allowances to hospitals to follow CMS guidelines in the Omnibus bill that passed in the Special Session.

Humble wrote, “We stated that the issue here is the law creates no conflict between the state and the overreach of the federal government. And that at some point, that would not play well in the courts.

Well, welcome to the Fifth Circuit’s opinion.  Tennessee has ‘accepted and even endorsed’ the CMS policy by not passing a law against it and not even challenging it in court.”

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CMS, at the time of publication, is not implementing its requirement for healthcare workers to take the vaccine as a condition of employment in response to the Louisiana court ruling.

However, Humble warns that, “Now that the Fifth Circuit has ruled, it may do so in 26 states (including Tennessee).  And if it does, healthcare workers in Tennessee will once again be required to take the jab.”

View the Louisiana Court Decision in its entirety HERE.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Directory for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com