While M&A activity has slowed in the tail end of the first quarter of 2025, including in healthcare, there have been several noteworthy developments in the antitrust space in the first 100 days of the Trump Administration. ...more
5/14/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Certificates of Public Advantage (COPAs) ,
Class Action ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Mergers ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Trump Administration
Welcome to the third issue of Health Headlines, a newsletter created by lawyers in our Healthcare practice....more
3/30/2025
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Annual Reports ,
Caremark claim ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
CVS ,
Drug Pricing ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Price Transparency ,
Proposed Rules ,
Trump Administration
In recent years, states have shown an increased interest in regulating healthcare markets. The trend has accelerated further since the start of 2025, with a flurry of proposals in at least 12 states. ...more
3/21/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Practice of Medicine ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Private Equity ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State Attorneys General ,
State Legislatures
On March 6, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging GTCR BC Holdings, LLC's (GTCR) proposed acquisition of Surmodics, Inc. (Surmodics). The complaint alleges that the transaction...more
On January 14, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued private equity giant KKR & Co. (KKR) for numerous violations of antitrust law, alleging that KKR repeatedly violated its obligations to provide information on its...more
1/17/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Notice Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Private Equity ,
Threshold Requirements
On Friday, January 10th, 2025, the US Chamber of Commerce, American Investment Council, Business Roundtable, and Longview Chamber of Commerce (collectively the “Plaintiffs”) filed a joint lawsuit challenging the FTC’s and...more
FTC’s challenge is the culmination of years of investigation, but choice of venue and theories of harm reveal potential weaknesses....more
10/2/2024
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Affiliates ,
Drug Pricing ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO) ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Rebates ,
Section 5 ,
Supply Chain
In the second quarter, federal and state antitrust enforcers continued their intense scrutiny of consolidation in the healthcare market by implementing new initiatives and laws designed to gather additional information...more
9/20/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Algorithms ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Conspiracies ,
Corporate Practice of Medicine ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Industry Consolidation ,
Market Participants ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Price Manipulation ,
Price-Fixing ,
Private Equity ,
Quality of Care Standards
Revenue-management tools are ubiquitous across sectors, but many hotel owners, operators, and management companies use such tools on a daily basis. As these products have improved, many have incorporated algorithms enabling...more
9/17/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Antitrust Conspiracies ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Class Action ,
Competition ,
Conditional Pricing ,
Confidential Information ,
Conspiracies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enterprise Software ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hotel Management Agreements ,
Hotels ,
Machine Learning ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Price-Fixing ,
Pricing ,
Rental Property ,
Residential Property Owners
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) issued a rule banning most post-employment non-competition agreements (the “FTC Rule”). Since its promulgation, the FTC Rule has been subject to legal challenges....more
7/8/2024
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Compliance ,
Effective Date ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pending Litigation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Section 5
The FTC’s enforcement efforts against private equity hit a significant roadblock on May 13 when a federal judge granted Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe’s (Welsh Carson) motion to dismiss the agency’s complaint against the...more
On April 23, 2024, the United States Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a Final Rule (the “Final Rule”) that would prohibit the use of non-compete clauses with most American workers...more
2023 saw a significant uptick in antitrust scrutiny and enforcement, particularly in the healthcare space. After much rhetoric and a setback in challenging state Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) laws, the Federal Trade...more
3/12/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Firms
On March 5, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, and collectively with the FTC and DOJ, the Agencies) launched a cross-government inquiry...more
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) (each an Agency, and collectively, the Agencies) released the final version of revised Merger Guidelines...more
Backing up its recent rhetoric, the FTC has filed suit against a private equity firm based on a “roll-up scheme” in the healthcare space. The FTC filed its complaint in federal district court in Texas, alleging that Welsh,...more
On August 16, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced an agreement with natural gas producer EQT Corporation (EQT) and private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners (Quantum) to resolve concerns stemming from alleged...more
8/28/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Board of Directors ,
Competition ,
Consent Decrees ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Popular ,
Safe Harbors ,
Section 5 ,
Section 8 ,
Statutory Authority ,
The Clayton Act
Agencies drastically revise Merger Guidelines and HSR process while withdrawing long-established antitrust healthcare guidance -
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ,...more
8/14/2023
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Hospitals ,
Popular
On July 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) (each an Agency, and collectively, the Agencies) released a long-awaited draft version of revised Merger...more
7/21/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Guidance Update ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Vertical Mergers
On June 27, 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Premerger...more
Department of Justice Withdraws Long-Standing Antitrust Healthcare Policy Statements -
On February 2, 2023, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the withdrawal of its support for three...more
5/24/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Amazon ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Appeals ,
Certificates of Public Advantage (COPAs) ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Practice of Medicine ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
No-Poaching ,
Policy Statement ,
Popular ,
Wage-Fixing