*HISTRS is formative, but it is a formative reflection of years of RS/N rulings.  It carries no weight other than what people at RS/N put on it, in the case of ruling on a particular instance.  It may never bear any further weight.  MEDRS took years to get moving, apparently, and was in a similar situation to where HISTRS is now for three years I have heard.  For example, HISTRS mirrors closely the finding in the most recent Tod RS/N discussion.