Should Healthcare Be Entrusted to People in White Coats or Black Robes?

Public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court has plummeted in recent years. Restoring it will require the Court to demonstrate a greater willingness to engage with and defer to scientific expertise, as well as prioritizing the well-being of patients in healthcare and public health rulings. The American public’s trust in the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has significantly waned in recent years. The most recent Gallup Poll (2023), found that approval was at a two-decade low (41%), while disapproval was at a high point (58%). This decline can be partly attributed to a growing perception that the Court is dismissive of scientific expertise and evidence-based decision-making, especially in healthcare cases. Instead, the Court is concocting rationales to support its ideological leanings. Consider, for example, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024). The case (together with its companion, Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce), eviscerated the Chevron doctrine, which had empowered federal agencies to interpret ambiguous statutes and was especially important in agencies with special substantive expertise.  This dismantling of deference now facilitates legal challenges to established governmental healthcare consumer protections. Many of these entities exist under the aegis of the Department of Health and Human Services, HHS, (which includes 13 agencies, such...