US: Court denies rehearing for St. Luke’s in antitrust case

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Tuesday denied a petition to rehear the antitrust case involving an Idaho health system’s purchase of the state’s largest independent physician practice.

In February, St. Luke’s Health System in Boise lost its first-round appeal before the Ninth Circuit, where a panel of three judges upheld a District Court ruling that St. Luke’s violated antitrust laws when it purchased the Saltzer Medical Group of Nampa, a practice of 40 physicians, and ordered it to unwind the acquisition. In that ruling, Judge Andrew D. Hurwitz said the 2012 merger violated the Clayton Act, which bars mergers that may substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly.

The Federal Trade Commission, the Idaho attorney general and the system’s competitors–St. Alphonsus Health System and Treasure Valley Hospital–claimed the merger gave St. Luke’s an unfair and illegal marketplace advantage by dominating primary medical care in the area, likely driving up prices.

Last month, St. Luke’s Health asked the Ninth Circuit to rehear its case before a full panel of judges. But Circuit Judges Richard R. Clifton. Milan D. Smith, Jr. and Hurwitz Tuesday denied the petition for rehearing the case.

Full Content: Fierce Healthcare

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