‘‘I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think I had a legal footing to do it,’’ Patrick said at an unrelated event at the Statehouse. ‘‘More to the point, I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think we had a real emergency, and we have a real emergency.’’
Patrick issued an executive order banning local doctors from prescribing or dispensing Zohydro on March 27, amid concerns that the drug’s availability might exacerbate the state’s prescription drug abuse epidemic.
But Zogenix, the San Diego-based maker of the drug, filed a federal lawsuit on Monday arguing that the ban was unconstitutional because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already approved its use for treatment of severe and chronic pain.
U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel, considering the lawsuit Tuesday, suggested Zogenix’s arguments might have merit.
‘‘I don’t have all the facts,’’ she said after hearing briefly from both sides. ‘‘At the moment, I think the governor is out of line on this. The federal drug administration has examined this issue, has dealt with all the objections to it, and is a federal entity.’’
Zobel said she will hear more detailed arguments Monday, after which she expects to render a decision on Zogenix’s request for an immediate but temporary halt to the ban. The court would decide at a later date whether or not the ban should be permanently vacated.
