Solo Doc Lacks Antitrust Standing, Says Seventh Circuit
Dr. Fisher is a solo family practitioner in Oshkosh. He had been on the Aurora Hospital medical staff for a decade when the hospital adopted a 24/7 coverage rule requiring doctors to provide 24/7...
View ArticleFTC Attacks Toothless Regulation of Dentists
Yesterday the United States Supreme Court heard argument in a case of national importance to health professions and the state boards that regulate them. The case, North Carolina Board of Dental...
View ArticleGoliath Defeats David in Ohio Hospital Suit
It’s a real dog-bites-man story: Ohio’s eighteen hundred-bed Premier Health System came out on top in its three-year court battle with a 26-bed specialty hospital in Dayton. On Monday the court...
View ArticleFTC Approves Divestiture of Medical Center as Part of Acquisition Settlement
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved an application by Community Health Systems (CHS) to sell Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center and its associated assets in Hartsville, South Carolina to...
View ArticleCourt Rejects AG-Approved Partners HealthCare Acquisitions
It took three years for Massachusetts hospital giant Partners HealthCare System to negotiate the state attorney general’s approval of its plan to acquire three more hospitals to add to its current 12....
View ArticleU.S. Supreme Court Denies Antitrust Protection for State Professional Boards
In a 6-3 decision in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission, the United States Supreme Court ruled today that state professional boards comprised of active...
View ArticleInsurer’s Agreements with Providers Are Not Per Se Antitrust Violations
The Iowa Supreme Court refused to categorize a health insurer’s agreements with providers in Iowa and its participation in the national Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) network as per se violations of...
View ArticleCharity Hospital’s Antitrust Case Uncharitably Dismissed
The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed antitrust claims by a charity hospital that alleged two medical centers colluded to squeeze the hospital out of the market for...
View ArticleFederal Court Allows Hospital’s Antitrust Claims to Proceed on Narrow Market...
Winning an antitrust lawsuit hinges on defining the “relevant market,” and this case may prove the point. Methodist Health Services Corporation notched the first win in its battle against Saint Francis...
View ArticleFTC Remains Focused on Health Care in 2015
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) recently published its annual highlights, revealing that health care remains a top priority for the Commission. The FTC reported that nearly half of its...
View ArticleNinth Circuit Denies Rehearing to St. Luke’s Health System
The Ninth Circuit will not reconsider its decision to force St. Luke’s Health System to unwind its purchase of Saltzer Medical Group, the largest physician practice group in the relevant Idaho market....
View ArticleFTC Urges State to Ease Up on Advanced Practice Registered Nurses
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) published comments in response to a Missouri state legislative proposal to modify rules and regulations on collaborative practice arrangements between...
View ArticleAll or Nothing: Federal Court Decides Exclusion from ‘Some’ Patients...
A federal district court in the Eighth Circuit dismissed claims brought against a physician-hospital organization and an insurer alleging that the defendants violated federal antitrust laws by refusing...
View ArticleInsurer Escapes Antitrust Suit, But Hospital Must Continue the Fight
A large regional health insurer extricated itself from an antitrust suit, leaving the dominant local hospital to square off alone versus an ambulatory surgical center (ASC). The U.S. District Court for...
View ArticleTexas Telemedicine Rule Delayed by Antitrust Suit
A Texas Medical Board rule requiring a physician to conduct an in-person evaluation before prescribing certain drugs will not go into effect today, June 3, as originally planned. A federal court...
View ArticleYour Drug Patent Rights Transfer May Be Reportable, Court of Appeals Confirms
On Nov. 6, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) modified its Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) rules to clarify that transfers of patent rights within the pharmaceutical industry constitute...
View ArticleCourt Rejects Claim that a Doctor’s Loss of Privileges is an Antitrust Injury
A federal appeals court held that a doctor who lost his privileges at a local hospital failed to establish an antitrust injury sufficient to confer standing under the Sherman Act. The United States...
View ArticleFTC Gives Mixed Review of South Carolina’s Nurse Supervision Proposal
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) submitted written comments on November 2nd to South Carolina’s state legislature on the competitive impact of proposals to modify the supervision...
View ArticleWords Hurt: FTC Challenges Proposed Hospital Merger Using Parties’ Own...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) authorized action on November 6 to block the proposed merger of two hospitals located in Huntington, West Virginia. The FTC issued an administrative...
View ArticleDOJ Antitrust Head Remains Focused on Health Care in Era of Consolidation
Speaking at an industry conference on November 13, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer reiterated the government’s focus on competition concerns in the health care industry. According to Baer,...
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