With the trial over, post-trial briefs due November 1, and closing arguments scheduled for November 7, a lot more is at stake than whether St. Luke’s Health System (“St. Luke’s”) can keep Saltzer Medical Group (“Saltzer”) – a for-profit, physician-owned, multi-specialty group comprising approximately 44 physicians located in Nampa, Idaho. St. Luke’s closed its acquisition … Continue Reading
Two weeks into the FTC’s and Idaho AG’s antitrust trial challenging hospital system St. Luke’s Health System (“St. Luke’s”) acquisition of the Saltzer Medical Group (“Saltzer”) – a for-profit, physician-owned, multi-specialty group comprising approximately 44 physicians located in Nampa, Idaho – a lot more is at stake than just whether St. Luke’s eventually will be … Continue Reading
In their answer to the government’s complaint challenging their proposed merger, US Airways and American Airlines (the “Airlines”) tout the “immense benefits to the traveling public” that the combined “US Airways and American Airlines will offer” with “more and better travel options for passengers through an improved domestic and international network, something that neither carrier … Continue Reading
In her first speech since becoming Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, Deborah Feinstein highlighted five benefits arising from addressing antitrust violations through consent orders and dispelled a number of “persistent myths” about their use. While emphasizing the FTC “employs a rigorous case-by-case approach to law enforcement decisions,” Director Feinstein explained that … Continue Reading
A recent article in the Antitrust Law Journal, “A Survey of Evidence Leading to Second Requests at the FTC,” by Darren S. Tucker, a FTC attorney advisor who reviewed non-public information on decisions to investigate proposed transactions for the period August 2008 to August 2012, sheds light on the types of evidence the FTC staff … Continue Reading
After running the table in the Supreme Court with a unanimous decision, which we covered, and then convincing a district court judge in Georgia to halt further consolidation of Phoebe Putney Health System (“Phoebe Putney”) and Palmyra Medical Center (“Palmyra”), the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently agreed to settle its antitrust challenge of Phoebe Putney’s … Continue Reading
A recent article in the Antitrust Law Journal titled “A Survey of Evidence Leading to Second Requests at the FTC,” by Darren S. Tucker, an attorney advisor to a FTC Commissioner who reviewed non-public information on the decisions to investigate proposed transactions for the period August 2008 to August 2012, sheds light on the types … Continue Reading
A recent article in the Antitrust Law Journal, “A Survey of Evidence Leading to Second Requests at the FTC,” by Darren S. Tucker, an attorney advisor to a FTC Commissioner who reviewed non-public information on the decisions to investigate proposed transactions for the period August 2008 to August 2012, gives insight on the types of … Continue Reading
A recent article in the Antitrust Law Journal, “A Survey of Evidence Leading to Second Requests at the FTC,” by Darren S. Tucker, an attorney advisor to a FTC Commissioner who reviewed non-public information on the decisions to investigate proposed transactions for the period August 2008 to August 2012, sheds light on the types of … Continue Reading
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”* Speaking at an American Bar Association symposium titled “Retrospective Analysis of Agency Determinations in Merger Transactions,” Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chairwoman, Edith Ramirez, highlighted the FTC’s successful track record challenging transactions, but also noted “growing concern” that hospital acquisitions of physician groups are having a negative … Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has held that the antitrust laws may forbid patent settlements that delay the market entry of generic drugs in return for large payments from manufacturers of competing branded drugs. The Court’s ruling rewarded the dogged efforts of the Federal Trade Commission to expose those settlements—which the FTC labels “pay for delay”—to antitrust … Continue Reading
Once again, the staff of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has rebutted claims by physician groups that state legislation is needed to allow independent physicians to collaborate. In support of legislation introduced in Connecticut, eight medical organizations representing more than 9,000 Connecticut physicians claimed that “federal antitrust laws prohibit Connecticut physicians from collective discussions about … Continue Reading
Court ruling may impact how professionals attempt to limit competition from alternative providers. The North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners (“Board”) failed to convince the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that the Board’s successful effort to “expel non-dentist providers from the North Carolina teeth-whitening market” is immune from antitrust attack. … Continue Reading
Despite opposition and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina’s claim that it “has not used ‘most favored nation’ clauses in [its] new contracts and in fact [they are] not part of our strategy to use those clauses on contracts executed in the future,” on May 8 North Carolina’s Governor, Pat McCrory, signed into law … Continue Reading
In recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has frequently commented on state efforts to either expand, or restrict competition faced by doctors from advanced practice registered nurses (“APRNs”). Generally speaking, there are four broad types of APRNs: (1) certified registered nurse anesthetists (“CRNAs”); (2) certified nurse midwives (“CNMs”); (3) clinical nurse specialists (“CNSs”); and … Continue Reading
Rarely, according to a recent Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) enforcement action against two nationally known hair restoration businesses—Bosley and Hair Club. However, before you start chatting up your competitor for information, pick up the phone and call your lawyer for advice. So, what got Bosley and Hair Club clipped? For more than four … Continue Reading
In the wake of the passage of a Michigan statute and regulatory order banning the use of most favored nation (“MFN”) clauses by insurers, health maintenance organizations, and nonprofit health care corporations in contracts with providers, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”), the State of Michigan, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (“Michigan … Continue Reading
After dodging an attempt by two of its competitors to stop the closing of its acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group (“Saltzer”)—a for-profit, physician-owned, multi-specialty group comprising approximately 44 physicians located in Nampa, Idaho—St. Luke’s Health System (“St. Luke’s”) must now also fend off the FTC’s and Idaho AG’s joint effort to unwind that transaction. On … Continue Reading
In the view of the FTC and the Justice Department, competing health care providers can contract jointly with third-party payers only if the providers integrate clinically (or financially) so that gains in efficiency and quality of care counterbalance any resulting price increases. The FTC has filled in the blanks as to what constitutes adequate clinical … Continue Reading
In one of the most closely watched healthcare antitrust cases in years, the Supreme Court issued its decision in the FTC merger challenge to a Georgia hospital merger, Phoebe Putney Health System’s acquisition of Palmyra Medical Center. In reversing the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals finding that Phoebe’s acquisition of Palmyra was immune from antitrust … Continue Reading
Legitimate joint marketing and selling arrangements have the potential to produce efficiencies. This is particularly so, for example, where the arrangement enables the participants to make or market products that they could not do alone. The Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations among Competitors, Statements of Antitrust Enforcement Policy in Health Care, as well as scores of … Continue Reading
Apparently, Mary Hanson, Tracey Nobel, Stefanie Nocera and the class they hope to represent do! In a prior post, we noted that the U.S. Department of Justice and State of New York filed an antitrust complaint that seeks to unwind a joint venture formed in 2009 by two competing tour bus operators in New York … Continue Reading
DOJ and New York sue to restore tour bus competition Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice and State of New York filed an antitrust complaint that seeks to unwind a joint venture formed in 2009 by two competing tour bus operators in New York City. The tour bus operators supposedly accounted for about 99 … Continue Reading
So, what does last month’s antitrust lawsuits against eBay by the DOJ and the State of California mean for the continued use of merger and other types of agreements (like NDAs and confidentiality agreements) that often contain clauses restricting one party from soliciting or hiring the other’s employees? Probably not much.… Continue Reading
