In Perinatal Medical Group v. Children’s Hosp. of Central CA, Eastern District of California judge Lawrence O’Neill refused to dismiss a Section 2 claim against the hospital for requiring demanding that the plaintiffs agree to only assign patients to the Children’s Hospital, and when the group refused, entering an exclusive contract with a sub-group of Perinatal doctors. The court did dismiss a Section 1 claim on the ground that the defendant hospital and the alleged conspirator were a single entity.
FTC Finds Multi-state Listing Service Has Violated Section 5
December 1, 2009 – 1:43 pm
Reversing an ALJ’s dismissal of the administrative complaint, the FTC has held that a Michigan real estate multi-listing service violated Section 5 by discriminating against low-cost listings in two ways. First, the service did not transmit low cost listings to publicly accessible websites such as Realtor.com. Second, the MLS’s own search mechanism defaulted to full price listings and included low-cost listings only on a separate “other listings” section that had to be separately accessed. The FTC found that these rules were the product of unlawful agreement among realtors to discriminate against those realtors who refused to adhere to an agreement to charge full commissions.
CVS/Caremark Merger Raises Vertical Concerns
November 30, 2009 – 4:29 pm
Attacks on vertical mergers have been quite rare in recent years, but the FTC, at the urging of several members of Congress, appears to be taking a keen interest in the merger between retail pharmacy chain, CVS, and Caremark, a leading pharmacy benefit manager. The primary concern appears to be that the merged firm will improperly channel customers to CVS pharmacies, harming competition in the retail pharmacy industry.
AT&T Completes Acquisition of Centennial Communications
November 30, 2009 – 4:22 pm
After agreeing to (1) divest certain assets in Mississippi and Louisiana, (2) honor Centennial’s existing agreements, and (3) restricting the flow of competitive information with partially owned AT&T subsidiary American Movil, the FCC cleared the way for AT&T to complete its acquisition of Centennial Communications. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, while concurring in the decision, expressed concern about Centennial’s rural customers. “Too many rural areas have been abandoned,” he wrote, “when the marriage did not produce the big company profits sought by the market.”
Congress is Considering Rolling Back Antitrust Exemptions for Insurance Companies
November 30, 2009 – 1:00 pm
Update November 2009: Attorneys General from Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Maine, Arizona, Iowa, Montana, Florida, and Wyoming sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of legislation to strip health insurers of their antitrust exemption.
As part of the health care reform debate, a proposal to eliminate the antitrust immunity granted to insurance companies in certain situations is under review in Congress. The Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division recently testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Division supported, in principle, the removing of the antitrust exemption for insurance business. She testified that the exemption was adopted to facilitate state regulation of the insurance industry and that the antitrust laws as currently understood would not prohibit state regulation. The Division took no position as to the manner or timing of any repeal.
EC Investigating Thomson Reuters
November 28, 2009 – 5:48 pm
The EC has opened formal anti-trust proceedings against Thomson Reuters, a Canadian news and financial data company, concerning a potential abuse of the company’s dominant position, in particular Thomson Reuters‘ conduct with respect to real-time market datafeeds, and whether customers or competitors are prevented from translating or mapping Reuters Instrument Codes (RICs) to alternative identification codes of other datafeed suppliers and thus restraining competition.
EC Imposes Fines in Heat Stabilizer Cartel
November 28, 2009 – 5:46 pm
The EC has fined on 24 companies from 10 different undertakings – Akzo, Baerlocher, Ciba, Elementis, Elf Aquitaine (Arkema France), GEA, Chemson, Faci, Reagens and AC Treuhand – €173m for violating the Article 81 by allegedly fixing the prices of heat stabilizers used in plastic products.
Carbon/Graphite Cartel Participants Lose Appeal
November 28, 2009 – 5:43 pm
French graphite firm Carbone Lorraine and German electrodes maker SGL Carbon must pay antitrust fines after the European Court of Justice rejected their appeals. The EC had fined Carbone Lorraine €43.1m ($64.6 million) and SGL 23.6m in 2003 for taking part in a carbon and graphite products cartel in 1998-99.
Commission Closes Qualcomm Investigation
November 28, 2009 – 5:41 pm
The EC has closed formal antitrust proceedings against Qualcomm Incorporated, a US chipset manufacturer, concerning an alleged abuse of a dominant market position.
EC Inspects Czech Energy Company
November 28, 2009 – 5:39 pm
On 24 November 2009, the EC conducted unannounced inspections at the premises of ČEZ and other undertakings all located in the Czech Republic. The Commission believes that the energy company, either unilaterally or in concert with others, may have substantially distorted of competition.