James M. Burns Provides Antitrust Insights on the Supreme Court’s Phoebe Putney Decision for the BNA Health Law Reporter

James Burns, a Member in Dickinson Wright’s Washington D.C. office, recently provided comments to the BNA Health Law Reporter regarding the Supreme Court’s recent decision in FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System Inc. In Phoebe Putney, the Supreme Court held that the acquisition of a Georgia hospital by a local Georgia Hospital Authority could be challenged by the FTC under the federal antitrust laws, rejecting the argument that the “State Action Doctrine,” which immunizes certain conduct that is taken pursuant to state direction, barred any such challenge.

Burns commented that the ruling – which reversed an 11th Circuit decision for the Hospital Authority – was not a big surprise, but that the fact that the ruling was 9-0 was rather surprising, particularly given the difficult questioning that both counsel faced at oral argument. Burns also noted that the merging parties will now have a number of interesting options on remand if they still wish to merge, including the possibility of seeking a legislative fix to bring the matter within the State Action Doctrine standard articulated by the Court last week. To read his full comments on the decision, please see link above.