Healthcare Antitrust

from Holland & Knight - Healthcare Antitrust

Healthcare Antitrust

Holland & Knight's Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Group includes a team of lawyers who concentrate on antitrust issues impacting the healthcare industry. Members of our Healthcare Antitrust Team provide proactive counsel to hospitals, health systems, physician practice groups and managed care providers to help you identify, avoid and – when necessary – address potential competition issues.

The Right Combination Of Knowledge

Lawyers on our Healthcare Antitrust Team have significant antitrust experience coupled with in-depth healthcare industry knowledge. We combine the practical application of antitrust laws with our own deep understanding of the healthcare industry to effectively manage your issues and avoid or mitigate exposure.

Comprehensive Representation

Our Healthcare Antitrust Team has extensive, hands-on experience representing healthcare clients. We offer proactive counsel to help you identify – and avoid – potential competition issues before they become problems. When concerns do arise, we can help you assess your options, develop a strategy to minimize your risks, and execute on that strategy before the antitrust enforcement agencies or in court.

Members of our team regularly assist healthcare clients in connection with a wide range of issues, including:

◼ providing compliance counseling

◼ establishing and operating "messenger-model" physician organizations

◼ advising on the creation of accountable care organizations

◼ structuring joint ventures

◼ guiding clients through mergers and acquisitions, from preparing Hart-Scott-Rodino filings to responding to Second Requests from the antitrust enforcement agencies

◼ developing exclusive provider arrangements and exclusive contracts for services

◼ negotiating with third-party payers and managed care plans

◼ defending against allegations of price fixing or other horizontal restraints of trade, including monopolization or attempts to monopolize

◼ addressing staff privilege disputes

◼ evaluating and assisting in enforcement of non-compete provisions in employment or distribution agreements

Representative Healthcare Antitrust Experience

◼ Lead trial counsel for a distributor of dental supplies and equipment in a) an eight-week trial against Federal Trade Commission (FTC), b) a three-week trial of a competitor action and c) a nationwide putative class action alleging a price-fixing conspiracy, group boycotts, customer allocation, employee no-poach agreement and information exchange claims

◼ Obtained dismissal of lawsuit claiming violations of various antitrust laws, including the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Florida Antitrust Act, on behalf of a medical supplies manufacturer

◼ Defense of an international pharmaceutical manufacturer in class action and opt-out actions alleging price fixing and Robinson-Patman Act violations

◼ Representation of a pharmaceutical manufacturer in federal multidistrict antitrust litigation and in various indirect purchaser antitrust actions in state courts

◼ Successful defense of a major pharmaceutical company against antitrust counterclaims brought in a patent infringement action pursuant to the Hatch-Waxman Act against the filer of abbreviated new drug application

◼ Secured full dismissal of antitrust and patent invalidation claims made against a pharmaceutical company

◼ Representation of a group of physicians in an adjudicatory proceeding before the FTC involving price-fixing allegations

◼ Representation of a hospital and physician group in a lawsuit involving claims of monopolization and attempted monopolization

◼ Representation of a hospital system and staffing agency in a lawsuit involving claims under the Sherman Antitrust Act and the False Claims Act