By James M. Burns On February 19, 2013, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System, a closely-watched antitrust case involving an FTC challenge to a Georgia hospital merger. In a 9-0 opinion, authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court held that the “State Action Doctrine” – …
FTC Issues New Report on “Pay for Delay” Patent Settlements
By James M. Burns According to a new report by the Federal Trade Commission, brand-name pharmaceutical companies increased their use of “pay for delay” patent settlements last year (October 2011 – September 2012). Of the total 140 pharmaceutical patent infringement settlements in the year, the report identifies 40 as potential “pay for delay” settlements. This …
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Michigan Governor Vetoes Legislation Banning Health Insurers from Utilizing Most Favored Nation Clauses in Provider Contracts
By James M. Burns On December 6, the Michigan Legislature passed legislation (S.B. 1293) that would have prohibited health insurers and health maintenance organizations in the state from including “most favored nation” clauses in any provider contract. The legislation was expected to be signed into law by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, but in an unexpected …
James M. Burns Comments on the Supreme Court’s Decision to Hear the Androgel “Pay for Delay” Pharmaceutical Patent Settlement Antitrust Case
James Burns, a Member in Dickinson Wright’s Washington D.C. office, commented to several health care publications on the United States Supreme Court’s decision to hear the Androgel antitrust case (FTC v. Watson Pharmaceuticals). The case involves so-called “pay for delay” settlements, in which a branded drug manufacturer typically sues a generic manufacturer for patent infringement, …
Federal Trade Commission Takes Aim at Pharmaceutical Industry “Product Hopping”
By James M. Burns Declaring that “The potential for anticompetitive product design is particularly acute in the pharmaceutical industry,” on November 21 the FTC filed an amicus brief in Mylan Pharmaceuticals v. Warner Chilcott Public Limited Company (E.D. Pa.), urging the court not to accept the view that “product-hopping” (the practice of repeatedly reformulating a …
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Federal Antitrust Review Applies to Health Insurance Mergers
By James M. Burns This is a summary version of an article authored by James Burns that was originally published in the October 2012 edition of Managed Healthcare Executive. A link to the full article is set forth below. On July 9, WellPoint and Amerigroup, two prominent health insurers, announced that they intended to merge …
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