Penn State Hershey: A Cautionary Tale for Antitrust Litigators

By Margaux Poueymirou

This article addresses a recent decision by the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Fed. Trade Comm’n v. Penn State Hershey Med. Ctr., 914 F.3d 193 (3d Cir. 2019), upholding the denial of attorneys’ fees to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in an action filed by Pennsylvania and the Federal Trade Commission to enjoin the proposed merger of two major Pennsylvania hospital systems, on the grounds that it would substantially lessen competition for general acute care in