Community pharmacy won an important year-end victory with the US District Court ruling stopping the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing its plan to base Medicaid payments for generic prescription drugs on Average Manufacturer Prices (AMPs).

The CMS ruling was scheduled to take effect January 31, resulting in pharmacists receiving payments as much as 36% lower than what certain drugs cost to acquire, according to the Government Accountability Office.

In the lawsuit against the CMS rule filed by the National Community Pharmacists Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Judge Royce C. Lamberth found there would be "irreparable harm" to community pharmacies.

For more information, visit www.PharmacyTimes.com/AMP.