About Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor
Amy Y. Gu, J.D. is the Managing Editor for the Source on Healthcare Price & Competition. She holds a J.D. from Loyola Law School and a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining the Source, she practiced civil litigation in the San Francisco Bay Area, and later engaged in corporate compliance and discovery, representing various global pharmaceutical companies. Driven by an entrepreneurial mindset and her talents for marketing and web design, Amy also co-founded and successfully launched a startup in e-commerce. She is excited to bring to the Source a unique set of experience and perspective from both law and tech.FTC and California AG Jointly Challenge John Muir’s Acquisition of San Ramon Regional Medical from Tenet Healthcare
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor December 7, 2023
See case page: FTC and California v. John Muir Health and Tenet Healthcare Update: On December 15, 2023, John Muir announced it would terminate its proposed deal to acquire Tenet’s remaining interest in San Ramon Medical Center. On December 18th, the FTC and California moved to dismiss their federal court case and the FTC dismissed its administrative challenge. Federal antitrust enforcement continues to pick up pace even as we near the year end. On November 17, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block John Muir Health’s proposed $142.5 million […]
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Oregon Law to Enhance Oversight of Healthcare Mergers & Acquisitions Faces Legal Challenge
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor November 15, 2023
In recent years, increased scrutiny over the impacts of consolidation in the healthcare industry has driven both antitrust enforcers and policymakers at the federal and state levels to enhance their efforts to address and remedy the source of the issue by improving oversight and review of potential anticompetitive healthcare mergers and acquisitions, both before and after the transaction. As the federal agencies review and revise their merger review guidelines and reporting requirements, several states have also introduced legislation to enhance their review and oversight authority of healthcare transactions in their […]
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FTC Targets Private Equity Acquisitions in Latest Lawsuit Against Texas Anesthesiology Practice
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor October 16, 2023
Private equity investment in health care across the country has continued to garner the attention of health policy researchers and policymakers in recent years. Stakeholders are concerned that private equity ownership of physician practices prioritizes profit over patient care quality. Despite concerns of potential impacts on price and quality arising from these private equity transactions in the health care industry, few enforcement actions have occurred. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took the lead in challenging one of these arrangements, suing a private equity firm retroactively in federal court […]
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The Source Roundup: October 2023 Edition
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor October 2, 2023
Consolidation and Competition A Doctrine in Name Only — Strengthening Prohibitions against the Corporate Practice of Medicine (NEJM) Jane M. Zhu, Hayden Rooke-Ley, and Erin Fuse Brown The NEJM perspective examines state corporate practice of medicine laws that prevent ownership or control of physician practices by corporate entities. In an accompanying audio interview, Erin Fuse Brown discusses the role of these laws, including the usefulness and how they could be strengthened. Competition in Commercial PBM Markets and Vertical Integration of Health Insurers with PBMs: 2023 Update (American Medical Association) José R. […]
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The Source and Petris Center Submits Comments in Support of Federal Draft Merger Guidelines
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor September 18, 2023
On September 18, The Source on Healthcare Price and Competition, together with UC Berkeley’s Petris Center, submitted public comments on the Federal Draft Merger Guidelines published on July 19. Jointly released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ), the draft guidelines proposed new considerations and guidance in the antitrust review of mergers and acquisitions, taking into account new developments and market realities in recent years. These new guidelines would replace the horizontal merger guidelines of 2010 and vertical merger guidelines of 2020 which have been withdrawn by […]
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California District Court’s Exclusion of Evidence under Scrutiny as Ninth Circuit Hears Oral Arguments in the Appeal of Sidibe v. Sutter Health Class Action
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor September 15, 2023
See case page: Sidibe v. Sutter Health On August 24, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the appeal of the federal class action Sidibe v. Sutter Health. A jury verdict in March 2022 in the Northern District Court of California had cleared the hospital giant of anticompetitive allegations that were initially filed over a decade ago. The alleged practices were also at issue in the case filed in state court by a labor union that was later joined by the attorney general, UEBT v. Sutter Health. […]
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Just Published: Research Report on State-imposed Conditions on Healthcare Provider Transactions
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor August 16, 2023
In a new research paper published in Frontiers in Public Health Volume 11, The Source’s Alex Montague, Robin Davison, Katie Gudiksen, and Jaime King examine the use of conditional approvals by state officials on hospital and health system mergers, acquisitions, and other consolidating transactions. While federal antitrust enforcers play an important role in overseeing large mergers, acquisitions, and other consolidating transactions of major healthcare providers, state oversight over healthcare markets is essential to slow consolidation more broadly and address market failures across the country. One method states have used to address […]
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BREAKING: New Federal Draft Merger Guidelines Announced
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor July 19, 2023
On July 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) jointly released updated draft guidelines for their antitrust review of mergers and acquisitions. The new proposed guidelines were established following public comments solicited from the past 18 months and aim to better evaluate business and competition in the modern economy and current market realities. The draft guidelines provide 13 principles the agencies will use in determining whether a transaction is anticompetitive and take into consideration increasing concern over new forms of consolidation including vertical mergers, cross-market mergers, […]
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FTC/DOJ Propose Expanded Pre-Transaction Reporting Requirements
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor July 17, 2023
On June 27, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), joined by the Department of Justice (DOJ), announced its proposal to amend pre-merger reporting rules that implement the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act of 1976. The new rules would require entities seeking to merge to provide more information and details on their transaction. This latest move by the federal antitrust enforcement agencies is consistent with ongoing efforts to promote competition in the U.S. and may act to slow down consolidation trends in the healthcare industry. What is the Existing Reporting Process The original […]
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Supreme Court Upholds State Regulation of Pork: What Does it Mean for the Pharmaceutical Industry?
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 15, 2023
In a recent Supreme Court decision, the high court upheld a California ballot initiative that bans the sales of certain type of pork in the state. While the challenge of the law is specifically focused on the state pork law, it has significant legal implications for industries beyond the meat industry. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), representing many biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, filed an amicus brief opposing the law due to its potential application to the state regulation of prescription drug prices. In this post, we take […]
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