Tag Archives: FTC

So, You Want to Share Your Technical Cyber Threat Information with Your Neighbors?

Photo of Pamela Jones HarbourPhoto of Gerald J. FergusonPhoto of Theodore J. Kobus IIIBy Jonathan Lewis, Pamela Jones Harbour, Gerald J. Ferguson and Theodore J. Kobus III on Posted in Data Privacy
Echoing guidance previously given to a nonprofit organization looking to exchange certain cybersecurity information, including exchanging actual real-time cyber threat and attack information, and others planning to exchange information concerning remediating the Y2K problems, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently released a joint “Antitrust Policy Statement on Sharing of Cybersecurity … Continue Reading

Sometimes Merger Fixes Are as Close as the End of Your Nose

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Merger, Merger Review
When it comes to negotiating merger remedies with federal antitrust enforcement agencies, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission each have guides or statements that may help.  But as good as their guidance may be, sometimes the fix for a merger is as close as the end of your nose. Back on July … Continue Reading

Webinar Now Available: Lessons Learned from FTC Investigation and Challenges of Healthcare Provider Transactions

Photo of Danyll FoixBy Danyll Foix on Posted in BakerHostetler, Events, Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger Review
If you missed our webinar “Lessons Learned from FTC Investigation and Challenges of Healthcare Provider Transactions” featuring Former FTC Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour and other antitrust partners from our Washington, D.C. office, you can listen and view the webinar by clicking here.… Continue Reading

Pharmaceutical Association Calls Out FTC in Filing Seeking to Enjoin New Rule Targeting the Industry

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Healthcare, Patents, Premerger Notification
Last November, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) with the “concurrence” of the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department, and over the strenuous objection of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (“PhRMA”), issued final changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act premerger notification rules limited solely to pharmaceutical industry.  Those special rules relate to the transfer of certain … Continue Reading

FTC Victory in Idaho Hospital-Physician Acquisition Case Should be a Wake-Up Call for Future and Past Deals

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Antitrust Litigation, BakerHostetler, Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger
The ink is still drying on the Idaho federal district court’s order requiring St. Luke’s Health System (“St. Luke’s”) to unwind its acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group (“Saltzer”) – a for-profit, physician-owned, multi-specialty group comprising approximately 44 physicians located in Nampa, Idaho.  But hospitals considering future acquisitions of physician groups, and those that the FTC … Continue Reading

BakerHostetler Lawyers to Present Webinar on Lessons Learned from FTC Investigations and Challenges of Healthcare Provider Transactions

Photo of Danyll FoixBy Danyll Foix on Posted in BakerHostetler, Events, Healthcare, Uncategorized
Members of BakerHostetler’s Antitrust and Competition team will present a webinar on February 26, 2014 which takes an in-depth look at FTC investigations and challenges of hospital and physician transactions. The topics will include: Insights from a former FTC Commissioner involved in nearly 30 healthcare enforcement actions while at the Commission Latest statistics on FTC  … Continue Reading

Past as Prologue: Rebirth of the Merger Trial and the Bazaarvoice Case

By Lee Simowitz, Jonathan Lewis and Judy Gechman on Posted in Antitrust Litigation, Government Investigations, Merger, Merger Review, Premerger Notification, Sherman Act 7
For many years after its implementation, the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 seemed to sound the death knell of post-consummation merger trials.  By establishing a file-and-wait system rather than the old catch-me-if-you-can non-system, the Act enabled the antitrust enforcement agencies to prevent the consummation of potentially anticompetitive mergers until they completed their investigation, and … Continue Reading

Thresholds Do Matter – Choosing too Low a Threshold in an Ordinary Course of Business Provision Can Up Your Risk of “Gun Jumping”

By Jonathan Lewis and Judy Gechman on Posted in Government Investigations, Merger Review, Premerger Notification
Soon after someone settles “gun jumping” charges, client alerts with informative titles like “DOJ Settlement Resolves ‘Gun Jumping’ Charges” start flying around.  These “alerts” usually recite facts alleged in the complaint, say ordinary course of business provisions are typically fine, but consult an antitrust lawyer to make sure yours are okay.  But few (if any) … Continue Reading

Give It Back! Disgorgement – Another FTC Arrow against Reverse-Payment Settlements that Delay Generic Entry

By Jonathan Lewis on Posted in Antitrust Litigation, Healthcare, Sherman Act 2
If the uncertainty that the Supreme Court’s Actavis decision injected into the world of reverse-payment settlement litigation wasn’t enough to get your attention, then the FTC’s recent effort to obtain disgorgement from Cephalon in a reverse-payment case should do so. Cephalon is arguing that the federal district court should dismiss the FTC’s near six-year-old complaint … Continue Reading

NY Governor Signs “Unprecedented” Legislation Allowing Public Healthcare Provider “a Blank Check to Engage in a Huge Swath of Anticompetitive Activities with No Oversight” – Will Other States Follow?

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Antitrust Exemptions & Immunities, Healthcare, Legislation
Despite vocal opposition from New York Attorney General Schneiderman’s office, New York Governor Cuomo signed legislation this week authorizing Nassau Health Care Corporation (“NuHealth”) – a public healthcare provider that operates a hospital, skilled nursing facility, and several community health centers in Nassau County, New York – to “engage in arrangements, contracts, information sharing, and … Continue Reading

Could an Idaho Healthcare Merger Impact Other Mergers, Including the American/US Airways Merger?

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Antitrust Litigation, Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger, Merger Review, Sherman Act 7
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

FTC Healthcare Merger Retrospective Again?

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger
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

US Airways and American Airlines Have a Potential Friend in FTC Commissioner Wright

By Jonathan Lewis on Posted in Merger, Merger Review, Sherman Act 7
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

Fix My Merger – Lessons from FTC Bureau Director Feinstein on the Use of Consent Orders to Remedy Anticompetitive Mergers

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Merger Review, Premerger Notification
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

FTC Investigations of Technology Transactions – Am I at Risk?

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Merger, Merger Review, Premerger Notification, Uncategorized
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

“Highly Unusual” Circumstances End FTC Challenge to Phoebe Putney Acquisition

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger, Merger Review, Uncategorized
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

FTC Investigations of Pharma and Medical Device Transactions – Am I at Risk?

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Healthcare, Merger, Merger Review, Premerger Notification
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

FTC Investigations of Energy and Chemical Transactions – Am I at Risk?

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Merger, Merger Review, Premerger Notification
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

Will the FTC Investigate My Provider Healthcare Transaction?

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger, Merger Review, Premerger Notification
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

FTC Seeks to Undo Another Small, Completed Transaction

Photo of Danyll FoixBy Danyll Foix on Posted in FTC Act, Merger, Merger Review, Premerger Notification
This week, the FTC announced a proposed consent agreement to alter another completed transaction that was too small to be reported under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (“HSR Act”). The FTC’s complaint alleged that Solera Holdings Inc. and Actual Systems of America, Inc., through their subsidiaries, were competing providers of yard management systems software (“YMS”) used by automotive recycling … Continue Reading

Are Consummated Hospital and Physician Mergers Now in the FTC’s Crosshairs?

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger, Merger Review, Uncategorized
“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

Supreme Court Rules That “Pay for Delay” Generic Drug Patent Settlements Are Not Shielded From Antitrust Liability

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Antitrust Litigation, FTC Act, Healthcare, Patents
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

Update: Are the Regulators Coming for the Patent Trolls?

Photo of Bill DeVinneyBy Bill DeVinney on Posted in Patents
  We recently wrote about a workshop held by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to discuss perceived abuses by patent acquisition entities.  The workshop included a panel discussion about whether the potential harm to innovation and competition caused by PAEs, particularly with regard to patent aggregators who may acquire market power, or … Continue Reading

Antitrust Law Encourages Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) Formation

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Healthcare
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
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