[JURIST] US Supreme Court [official website] Chief Justice John Roberts denied [text, PDF] the request of Teva Pharmaceuticals USA [corporate website] for a stay on the lower court ruling. The appeals court’s ruling made Teva’s Copaxone drug available to be produced in a generic form [opinion]. Teva sought to have this delayed until the Supreme Court is able to hear the dispute after the court granted certiorari [order list, PDF] last month. Roberts reasoned that the likelihood that Teva would suffer irreparable harm was too remote to justify the stay. The generic rivals of Teva argued that a stay would delay their entry into the market, which could be as early as late May. There is the possibility that Teva could seek a stay from a different justice, but such relief is rarely granted.

The Supreme Court also denied review [JURIST report] of Roman Catholic Archbishop v. Sebelius and Priests for Life v. Health and Human Services Department [dockets] on Monday. These petitions sought the court’s review of the validity of government rules to exempt religious employers from having to follow the birth-control mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [text]. These cases are already scheduled to be heard by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia [official website] on May 8.