Articles and Blogs

Health care is always a high priority for the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”)  and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). The emphasis on antitrust compliance within the health care industry was recently reiterated by Andrew Forman, a Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the DOJ. Specifically, at the American Bar Association’s Antitrust in Healthcare... READ MORE

The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (“HSR Act”), as amended, requires all persons contemplating certain mergers or acquisitions that meet or exceed the jurisdictional thresholds (shown below) to file a premerger notification (an “HSR Filing”) with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Premerger Notification Office and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division and to... READ MORE

Mergers and acquisitions in the health care industry present unique challenges that are not often present when undertaking similar transactions in other industries. Because of health care’s highly regulated nature, parties may falter if a health care transaction is not reviewed and negotiated carefully with respect to the distinct concerns that health care presents. ... READ MORE

On June 30, 2020,  the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), along with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a finalized version of their new Vertical Merger Guidelines (the “Guidelines”). The Guidelines do not institute many significant changes to the enforcer’s approach to analyzing vertical mergers but rather attempt to memorialize the... READ MORE

On April 30, 2020, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) announced its first criminal felony charge in an ongoing probe of the Florida cancer treatment industry. The DOJ alleged that from 1999 to 2016, Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, LLC (“FCS”) and unnamed co-conspirators conspired to allocate the... READ MORE

On March 24, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) issued a joint statement offering an insight into the Agencies’ approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and how entities can engage in pro-competitive collaboration that does not violate the antitrust laws. While much of... READ MORE

In response to the spread of novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) have issued guidance on how COVID-19 will impact merger review and filings under the Hart-Scott Rodino (the “HSR”) Act. On March 13, 2020, the FTC and DOJ suspended the submission of hard... READ MORE

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear ACA Validity Case Today, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a third major Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) case. The Court will consider whether a legislative change to the ACA’s individual mandate rendered the landmark law unconstitutional. Learn more from a recent Hall Render article here. By granting petitions from... READ MORE

The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (“HSR”), as amended, requires all persons contemplating certain mergers or acquisitions that meet or exceed the jurisdictional thresholds (shown below) to file notification with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division and to wait a period of time before consummating the transaction.... READ MORE

On January 10, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (collectively, the “Federal Antitrust Enforcers”) proposed their first new vertical merger guidelines (the “Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines”) in 36 years. The Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines, which will supersede and replace the 1984 DOJ “Non-Horizontal Merger... READ MORE