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US: St. Luke’s falters again in antitrust fight

By  |  June 19, 2014

St. Luke’s Health System, which became the target of a high-profile antitrust case, had its request to stay an earlier ruling regarding its acquisition rejected.

According to reports, St. Luke’s had looked to delay implementation of an earlier ruling that forced the group to divest Saltzer Medical Group, the result of legal action against the merger taken by the US Federal Trade Commission.

US District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled last January that St. Luke’s would have to immediately divest the assets because the merger harmed competition. St. Luke’s requested a stay of that order while its appeal of the ruling is pending; reports say that appeal could last until 2016.

But the judge issued an order Thursday rejecting that request for a stay, writing “a stay would lock into place the anticompetitive bargaining advantage that St. Luke’s could continue to use to its advantage.”

Full content: Idaho Statesman

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