Latest Publications

Share:

Forcing Exclusivity on Your Customers May Not Be the Best Competitive Response

In the words of the director of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Bureau of Competition, the recent enforcement against Invibio, Inc., the first company to sell implant-grade polyetheretherketone, known as PEEK, to...more

News Flash: An Agreement Between Competitors to Limit Advertising/Marketing Violates the Antitrust Laws

For the second time in less than a year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed an antitrust complaint against hospital systems that agreed to not advertise on billboards or in print in each other’s home county. Last...more

Antitrust: “Doctor, Doctor, Give Me the News”* Court gives Teladoc some good news in its antitrust challenge to Texas Medical...

Back in April 2015, Teladoc, Inc., which provides U.S. board-certified doctors for consults via phone or online video, filed an antitrust challenge to stop a new Texas Medical Board (TMB) rule from taking effect that requires...more

HELP! FTC Staff Steps Up to the Plate with Guidance for State Officials on Regulating Occupational Boards

Answering the call from state officials seeking advice regarding antitrust compliance for state boards responsible for regulating occupations, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Staff have stepped up to answer two questions...more

Send Lawyers, Guns and Money:* Providers Lining Up Against Anthem/Cigna and Aetna/Humana Mergers

In the wake of Anthem’s proposed acquisition of Cigna and Aetna’s proposed acquisition of Humana, providers are lining up to be heard. Take the American Medical Association (AMA), for example, which is urging federal and...more

Antitrust: “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do”*

Allegiance Health (Allegiance) is the lone holdout facing antitrust charges brought by the DOJ and Michigan’s Attorney General (AG). Yet despite settlements by Hillsdale Community Health (Hillsdale), Community Health of...more

“Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More”* — Doctors, Vets, and Lawyers in the Antitrust Crosshairs

Supreme Court Decision in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission Prompts Legal Challenges to State Professional Boards - Earlier this month a Texas federal district court judge granted a...more

“Ring my friend, I said you call Doctor Robert, day or night he'll be there”*

The first lawsuit, in what may be a wave of antitrust litigation challenging professional board regulations in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade...more

State Health Regulatory Bodies Have Teeth Pulled

Old and new regulations established by state professional boards that are composed of “active market participants” such as physicians, dentists and therapists, may be subject to antitrust challenge following the U.S. Supreme...more

Say Ah! FTC and DOJ to Host Second Workshop on “Examining Health Care Competition”

On February 24-25, 2015, the FTC and the U.S. Department of Justice will host their second workshop on “Examining Health Care Competition.” The workshop will take place in Washington, D.C., and will focus on recent...more

“Oh help me, please doctor, I’m damaged”*—What does the Future Hold for Hospital-Physician Acquisitions?

With the ink still drying on the Ninth Circuit’s opinion affirming the Idaho federal district court’s order requiring St. Luke’s Health System to unwind its acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group—a for-profit, physician-owned,...more

“And they’re closing all the factories down”* — Going Dark During a Merger Review

Demand in your industry has been declining for years, the decline is projected to continue for the foreseeable future, and you are one of the few cost-effective manufacturers around. You just inked a deal to buy a competing...more

The Beat Goes On: Antitrust Enforcement and Healthcare*

In one form or another, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been banging the drum that there is no inconsistency between antitrust enforcement and healthcare. The latest to pick-up the drumbeat is the chair of the FTC...more

Gone, Gone, the Damage Done*—Provisions in Transactional Agreements Can Raise Antitrust Risk

Soon after someone settles “gun jumping” charges, client alerts and blog posts with informative titles like “DOJ Settlement Resolves ‘Gun Jumping’ Charges” start flying around. These “alerts” and “posts” usually recite facts...more

Provider Competition Matters—Even for “Reference Pricing”

In a recent blog post, three Federal Trade Commission (FTC) economists splashed some cold water on advocates of “reference pricing” that seem to imply that such pricing “will increase competition between providers.” In the...more

Dollar General—“Setting the Record Straight” on Antitrust for Family Dollar

Unless you have been in the middle of a bidding war where antitrust concerns are front and center, what is playing out between Dollar General and Family Dollar is probably unfamiliar to you, as it is rarely seen outside of...more

Don’t Pop the Cork Just Yet—Growing Criticism of Massachusetts AG’s Settlement with Partners Healthcare Just Might Send the...

After touting a proposed settlement with Partners HealthCare (Partners) that supposedly would “fundamentally alter [Partners’] negotiating power for 10 years and control health costs across [Partners’] entire network,”...more

Buckle Up—Unwinding Phoebe Putney’s Acquisition of Palmyra Down in Georgia May End Up Being Back on the Table

Almost one year ago, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) agreed to settle its antitrust challenge of Phoebe Putney Health System’s (Phoebe Putney) acquisition of Palmyra Medical Center (Palmyra) without requiring divesture or any...more

Let The Rejoicing Begin, Or Not—Massachusetts AG’s Settlement With Partners Healthcare Is No Harbinger of Things to Come

After almost half a dozen years of investigating Partners HealthCare’s (Partners) contracting practices and its proposed acquisitions of two competing hospital systems, Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Martha Coakley...more

6/30/2014

Leave My Employees Alone! You Promised You Wouldn’t Hire/Solicit Them

With the antitrust class action against Google, Apple, Intel and other Silicon Valley heavyweights nearly in the books ($300 million plus in settlements and millions more in defense fees later), it is time once again to ask...more

What the WTP? The Rise of Merger Simulation in Hospital Transactions

If you are a health system or hospital thinking about a potential transaction and your lawyers haven’t spoken with you about hospital merger simulation, then maybe you should be talking with someone else. What is...more

What the WTP?

If you are a health system or hospital thinking about a potential transaction and your lawyers have not spoken with you about hospital merger simulation, maybe you should be talking with someone else. What is hospital...more

Are You Facing the Prospect of a Merger Investigation?

If your organization is facing the prospect of a merger investigation and your lawyers haven’t raised the prospect of technology-assisted document review (“TAR”), then maybe you should be talking with someone...more

To Report, or Not to Report, Your Non-Reportable Transaction Is the Question

Just because a proposed transaction does not have to be reported in advance to the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) or the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) because it falls below the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Act size of...more

Connecticut’s Attorney General Wants to Know in Advance if You Are Going to Join Forces with a Healthcare Provider

Back in early 2013, Connecticut’s Attorney General (“AG”) formed a “Health Care Competition Working Group” within his office to examine the potential impact of horizontal mergers (e.g., hospital to hospital) and vertical...more

64 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 3

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide