On October 23, 2017, a company that developed software to track and trace pharmaceuticals filed a complaint against a pharmaceutical distributors trade association that currently dominates the market for such software,...more
After five years of growth through a series of acquisitions, the Washington State Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit to thwart and unwind the most recent expansion efforts of Franciscan Health System (“CHI Franciscan”)...more
9/13/2017
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Attorney General ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Costs ,
Merger Controls ,
Price-Fixing ,
Sherman Act ,
State Antitrust Claims ,
The Clayton Act
On the eve of trial, and after years of litigation (including an appeal to the Sixth Circuit), all claims by Dayton, Ohio hospital The Medical Center at Elizabeth Place (“MCEP”) against Premier Health Partners (“Premier”)...more
8/17/2017
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
Boycotts ,
Dismissal With Prejudice ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Joint Venture ,
Per Se Rule ,
Rule-of-Reason Analysis ,
Sherman Act ,
Standard of Review ,
Vertical Restraints
Last week a Delaware federal district court unsealed its earlier opinion blocking the merger of two radioactive waste disposal companies. The court rejected the parties’ failing firm defense, citing the merger agreement’s “no...more
7/22/2017
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defense Strategies ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Good Faith ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
No Shop Clauses
Although the Federal Trade Commission currently is short-handed with one Democrat and one Republican serving on the Commission (out of a normal lineup of five), today they showed that bi-partisan consensus still can exist in...more
A New Jersey district court recently denied a motion to dismiss in an antitrust class action alleging that a physician association illegally tied board certification to association membership in violation of Section 1 of the...more
6/19/2017
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Business Associations ,
Certification Requirements ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Fraud ,
Illegal Tying Arranegements ,
Membership Agreements ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Osteopathic Physicians ,
Physicians ,
State Medical Board
In an opinion written by Judge Posner, the Seventh Circuit on Friday gave its stamp of approval to a “must-have” hospital’s bargaining to exclude competitors from certain narrow-network payor contracts in and around Peoria,...more
6/12/2017
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
Contract Terms ,
Exclusive Dealing Agreements ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Hospitals ,
Monopolization ,
Patients ,
Payor Contracts ,
Preferred Hospital Networks Arrangement ,
Richard Posner ,
Summary Judgment
A federal district court denied summary judgment motions brought by both sides in the government’s antitrust suit against a Michigan hospital alleging an agreement not to compete in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act....more
6/7/2017
/ Advertising ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Attorney General ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Hospitals ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
ProMedica ,
Sherman Act ,
Summary Judgment
Even with a reduced lineup of only two commissioners — the Republican Acting Chair and one Democratic Commissioner — the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC” or “Commission”) filed an administrative complaint this week against...more
6/2/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Immunity ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Appraisal ,
Competition ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Real Estate Market ,
Real Estate Professionals ,
Section 5 ,
State Action Immunity ,
State Boards
On March 30, 2017, in a closely watched case, a federal district court denied the Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings filed by Carolinas Healthcare against the DOJ Antitrust Division and State of North Carolina’s Complaint...more
4/3/2017
/ Anti-Steering Rules ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Contract Terms ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Health Insurance ,
Hospitals ,
Judgment on the Pleadings ,
Motion for Judgment ,
Pleadings ,
Restraint of Trade
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the State of Illinois successfully concluded their challenge to the proposed merger of Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University Health System earlier this month, when the U.S....more
An ophthalmologist cooperative in Puerto Rico settled charges with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) last week that it orchestrated an illegal boycott of a health plan. The FTC alleged that the cooperative urged its...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on January 19, 2017 increased jurisdictional thresholds for premerger notification filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the HSR Act)....more
Last week the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice jointly issued guidance to educate companies, and in particular human resource professionals, on how antitrust laws apply in the employment arena,...more
The Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC” or “Commission”) has made its preference known for structural, rather than conduct, remedies when attempting to craft consent solutions in reviewing antitrust provocative mergers. In...more
After fending off a motion for judgment on the pleadings in March 2015, a small hospital in Peoria, Illinois lost on summary judgment in its $300 million antitrust suit alleging illegal exclusive dealing and attempted...more
10/5/2016
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Blue Cross ,
Blue Shield ,
Exclusive Dealing Agreements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Monopolization ,
Summary Judgment
Last week, in In re Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (“Second Circuit”) vacated a $147 million jury award against Chinese vitamin C sellers Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co. and...more
The Third Circuit reminds, “[i]n antitrust suits, definitions matter.” Last week, in applying that maxim, the court affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a suit filed by a hospital against a competing hospital and physician...more
Last week, in In re Aluminum Warehousing Antitrust Litigation, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (“Second Circuit”) rejected a claim by certain downstream end-users of aluminum that their price manipulation...more
8/16/2016
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Civil Conspiracy ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Derivatives ,
Dismissals ,
End-Users ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Market Participants ,
Price Manipulation ,
Price-Fixing ,
Purchasers ,
Standing ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In recent years, federal antitrust enforcers and businesses that accept payment cards have been waging a slow war against payment card fees and the card network rules that protect them. The payment card industry’s antitrust...more
8/4/2016
/ American Express ,
Anti-Steering Rules ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
ATMs ,
Banks ,
Civil Conspiracy ,
Competition ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Credit Cards ,
Damages ,
Debit and Credit Card Transactions ,
Debit Cards ,
Discover Bank ,
FRCP 23(b)(2) ,
FRCP 23(b)(3) ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Interchange Fees ,
Market Power ,
MasterCard ,
Merchant Fees ,
Merchants ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Price-Fixing ,
Reversal ,
Settlement ,
Sherman Act ,
Visa Inc
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced this week that an activist investment manager has agreed to pay a record $11 million to settle allegations that it violated the requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust...more
7/14/2016
/ Baker Hughes ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Halliburton ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment-Only Exemption ,
Investors ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements
A popular weapon used to contain health care expenditures is the creation by payors and employers of tiered provider networks, which by differentiated co-pays attempt to steer insureds to less expensive choices. In...more
Judge takes “the healthcare world as it is, and not as the FTC wishes it to be.”
“We find it no small irony that the same federal government under which the FTC operates has created a climate that virtually compels...more
The mere possession of monopoly power does not violate federal antitrust laws. The laws only address the anticompetitive acquisition, maintenance, or abuse of that power. The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) entered into a...more
The NCAA scored a victory last week with the denial of class certification in an antitrust suit challenging the association’s former ban on multiyear scholarships (the “One Year Rule”) and its cap on scholarships (the “GIA...more