Group Life & Health Insurance Co., Aka Blue Shield of Texas, et al. v. Royal Drug Co., Inc., Dba Royal Pharmacy of Castle Hills, et al.

Decided February 27, 1979. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-952 · 440 U.S. 205 (1979) · Cited 571 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Securities & Exchange Commission v. National Securities, Inc. · 393 U.S. 453 (1969)
• United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Assn. · 322 U.S. 533 (1944)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Variable Annuity Life Insurance · 359 U.S. 65 (1959)
• United Mine Workers v. Pennington · 381 U.S. 657 (1965)
• Connell Construction Co. v. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union No. 100 · 421 U.S. 616 (1975)
• St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance v. Barry · 438 U.S. 531 (1978)
• Paul v. Virginia · 75 U.S. 168 (1869)
• Parker v. Brown · 317 U.S. 341 (1943)
• United States v. McKesson & Robbins, Inc. · 351 U.S. 305 (1956)
• Ernst & Ernst v. Hochfelder · 425 U.S. 185 (1976)
• Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores · 421 U.S. 723 (1975)
• Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc. · 365 U.S. 127 (1961)
• California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited · 404 U.S. 508 (1972)
• United States v. Borden Co. · 308 U.S. 188 (1939)
• Prudential Insurance v. Benjamin · 328 U.S. 408 (1946)
• German Alliance Insurance v. Lewis · 233 U.S. 389 (1914)
• Federal Maritime Commission v. Seatrain Lines, Inc. · 411 U.S. 726 (1973)
• American Medical Assn. v. United States · 317 U.S. 519 (1943)
• Abbott Laboratories v. Portland Retail Druggists Assn., Inc. · 425 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Federal Trade Commission v. National Casualty Co. · 357 U.S. 560 (1958)
• Ramsey v. United Mine Workers · 401 U.S. 302 (1971)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Union Labor Life Insurance v. Pireno · 458 U.S. 119 (1982)
• Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. California · 509 U.S. 764 (1993)
• United States Department of Treasury v. Fabe · 508 U.S. 491 (1993)
• Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society · 457 U.S. 332 (1982)
• Rush Prudential HMO, Inc. v. Moran · 536 U.S. 355 (2002)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance v. Massachusetts · 471 U.S. 724 (1985)
• Southern Motor Carriers Rate Conference, Inc. v. United States · 471 U.S. 48 (1985)
• Kentucky Assn. of Health Plans, Inc. v. Miller · 538 U.S. 329 (2003)
• Arizona Governing Committee for Tax Deferred Annuity & Deferred Compensation Plans v. Norris · 463 U.S. 1073 (1983)
• United States v. Mitchell · 445 U.S. 535 (1980)
• Western & Southern Life Ins. Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization of Cal. · 451 U.S. 648 (1981)
• Barnett Bank of Marion County, N. A. v. Nelson · 517 U.S. 25 (1996)
• California Brewers Assn. v. Bryant · 444 U.S. 598 (1980)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).