In an encouraging boost to efforts to promote healthcare competition and price transparency, President Biden signed a sweeping executive order that targets consolidation and lack of competition in the healthcare industry, among others. As part of the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy released on July 9th, the President targeted specific market players in the healthcare sector, including hospitals, health insurers, and prescription drug manufacturers. The Executive Order affirms the policy of the Biden Administration “to enforce the antitrust laws to combat the excessive concentration of industry, …

The Source has been closely following legal challenges to state legislation that seek to promote competition and contain costs in healthcare services. In this month’s Litigation and Enforcement Highlights, we roundup the latest developments in some of the pending cases as well as new lawsuits that have been filed to derail state efforts to address rising prescription drug costs.   Arkansas: Supreme Court Grants Review of PBM Law In November 2019, the Source Blog covered the long litigious history of lawsuits filed against various pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) laws from …

As public outcry against healthcare costs, in particular prescription drug prices, continues to dominate the national spotlight, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is stepping up its efforts to regulate anticompetitive conduct in various markets of the healthcare supply chain. In this month’s Litigation and Enforcement Highlights, we take a look at FTC enforcement actions that target 1) the e-prescription market, 2) reverse-payment agreements between drug manufacturers, and 3) pharmacy benefit managers.   FTC Targets Monopoly in Electronic Prescription Market in Antitrust Action Against Surescripts As the country faces building pressure …

This month we highlight new developments in several high profile antitrust enforcement cases and pharmaceutical legal actions, including 1) new challenges to the proposed Beth Israel-Lahey merger, 2) expanded probe into generic drugs price-fixing scheme, 3) conclusion to Allergan’s patent saga, and 4) the future of Maryland’s price gouging law.    Massachusetts Health System Merger Hits Roadblock, with Rocky Road Ahead We have our eye on the proposed merger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health, which has been under regulatory review since December 2017. As we covered …

June has been a busy month in terms of healthcare litigation and enforcement action. In this issue, we highlight 1) implications of the AT&T-Time Warner merger for vertical mergers in healthcare, 2) FTC’s big win in a pharmaceutical pay-for-delay case, and 3) constitutional challenges against state drug pricing laws.   AT&T-Time Warner Merger Encourages Healthcare Vertical Mergers but May Mean Little Last month, a federal court approved AT&T and Time Warner’s $85 billion merger without condition, setting off a wave of speculation on how the decision could impact pending healthcare …

Pharmaceutical litigation and enforcement actions took the spotlight in the news last month. In this edition, we highlight two high profile enforcement cases and continue to follow the Allergan patent saga. In enforcement, we saw developments in the FTC’s antitrust enforcement against generic drugmaker Impax and the DOJ’s anti-kickback enforcement against brand manufacturer Pfizer. These actions could set important precedents for similar cases and significantly impact price and competition in the pharmaceutical industry. Meanwhile, Allergan continues to defend against attacks of its tribal immunity maneuver in a seemingly losing battle. …

Pfizer filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, September 20, alleging Johnson &amp|Johnson (J&J) made “exclusionary contracts” with insurers regarding their drug Remicade.  Remicade (infliximab) is biologic medication that must be administered via IV infusion. In contrast to most drugs that are chemically synthesized, biologic medications are large biological molecules or complex mixtures that are not easily duplicated.  Remicade (infliximab) is a monoclonal antibody. As biologic medications cannot be exactly duplicated, the FDA process for approving biosimilars is similar but not identical to the Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) process for small molecule generic drugs.  …

Summer is finally here! In this Roundup of articles from the past month, we cover four articles published in May. The topics this month include 1) the effect of market concentration on hospital prices|2) links between cost and quality|3) pharmaceutical market competition|and 4) all-payer rate setting. We hope you enjoy your monthly reading list!   The Effect of Market Concentration on Hospital Prices Seidu Dauda recently published the article Hospital and Health Insurance Markets Concentration and Inpatient Hospital Transaction Prices in the U.S. Health Care Market (Health Services Research).This research …

As we moved into the first month of 2017, we continued to see articles addressing concerns about healthcare costs and the role of the market in healthcare. This month’s Roundup covers 1) state oversight of vertical integration in healthcare|2) the influence of provider and insurer market share on price negotiations|3) frameworks for analyzing product-hopping antitrust claims|and 4) former President Obama’s comments on “repeal and delay” of the ACA. Source Executive Editor Jaime S. King and Erin Fuse Brown published The Double-Edged Sword of Health Care Integration: Consolidation and Cost Control (Indiana …

Introduction In the last year, the public’s outrage about high healthcare costs became more narrowly targeted on pharmaceutical companies. Two major stories about price increases on pharmaceutical products helped fuel the public’s frustration. First in February, Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli testified before congress about his company’s decision to raise the price of Daraprim, the drug used to treat parasitic diseases, particularly occurring in HIV and AIDs patients, from $13.50 to $750 per dose.[1] And then in November, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch testified before Congress about a nearly 500 percent price increase of the epinephrine delivery device …