On June 19, 2018, hospital patient plaintiffs in the NorthShore University Health System (NorthShore) antitrust lawsuit, relating to Evanston Northwestern’s purchase of Highland Park Hospital in 2000, asked the federal judge sitting in Illinois to add new class representatives to their case after the court de-certified the first class on March 31, 2018, meaning the  previous class representatives could “no longer serve as class representatives because they had only paid for outpatient services.”  The class proposed Melissa Diamond and David Freedman as replacement class representatives, who were “typical of the Class Members” and able to bring claims on behalf of themselves and other patients who allegedly paid higher prices for acute inpatient care following the purchase of rival Highland Park Hospital.

The class asserted that no discovery would be needed related to the new class because Ms. Diamond and Mr. Freedman had provided their records to Northshore previously. Diamond claimed she was charged $9,436 for two days of inpatient services in 2009 at Evanston Hospital and was responsible for $241 of that balance after her insurance would not cover it all. Freedman claims he had to pay $28,854 for two days of inpatient services in April 2013.

In 2004, the Federal Trade Commission found that Evanston Northwestern’s acquisition of Highland Park violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act, because it substantially lessened competition. Because the acquisition had already been consummated, however, the FTC did not seek a divestiture of the acquired assets and instead reached a settlement with the parties pursuant to which managed care contracting was kept separate.

The case is In re: Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corp. Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:07-cv-04446, and is in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The Plaintiff  Class’ Motion can be found here.