The Eighth Circuit has issued a significant antitrust decision
addressing bundled rebates and the law surrounding exclusionary
contracts. In Southeast Missouri Hospital v. C.R. Bard,
Inc. (No. 09-3325, Aug. 17, 2010), the Eighth Circuit affirmed
the district court's grant of summary judgment dismissing a
hospital's claims that a medical device company's contracts
with group purchasing organizations (GPO) violate Sections 1 and 2
of the Sherman Act.
The plaintiff hospital purchased a variety of medical supplies
manufactured by the defendant under a GPO contract. The plaintiff
challenged several aspects of the defendant's contract with the
GPO: 1) a "sole source" provision that established the
defendant's catheters as the only catheters available to the
hospital under the GPO contract; 2) tiered pricing that granted
discounts to hospitals purchasing a substantial percentage of
certain products from the defendant; and 3) bundled rebates that
offered discounts to
