From time to time a development in health law confirms the adage that truth is stranger than fiction. That’s why we hand out the You-Can’t-Make-this-Up Award for real life developments that seem to defy the imagination.

This month’s award goes to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ October 3 announcement (CMS-6012-WN) withdrawing a proposed rule requiring artificial limb providers and suppliers to meet accreditation requirements. According to the announcement, the rule was withdrawn because of “the cost and time burdens the rule would create for many providers and suppliers.”

You read that correctly: the artificial limb rule was withdrawn because it would have cost the artificial limb industry an arm and a leg.