ST. LOUIS –– A federal judge dismissed a contract dispute between Diabetic Care RX and Express Scripts, citing a binding arbitration agreement.
On Aug. 1, Judge Catherine Perry of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri ruled all claims would be submitted to arbitration and vacated a temporary restraining order.
According to court documents, Express Scripts ended a pharmacy provider agreement with Diabetic Care RX, the parent company of Patient Care America, over its involvement in previous civil and criminal litigation. Diabetic Care responded with a lawsuit in Florida court and obtained a restraining order against ending the agreement due to "patient safety."
The case was transferred to Missouri last month at the behest of Express Scripts, who has its headquarters in St. Louis.
Perry extended the restraining order after Diabetic Care again worried about patient safety during a telephone conference.
In her decision, Perry looked at the contract between the two companies and found the document "leaves no doubt that they agreed to arbitrate this dispute."