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ARTICLE · 11 SEPTEMBER 2023

Shift In Health Care Antitrust Prosecutions Is Likely

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In December 2022, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General announced a memorandum of understanding ...

United StatesAntitrust/Competition Law
James W. Attridge
James W. Attridge
Daniel K. Oakes
Daniel K. Oakes
Tasneem Chowdhury
Tasneem Chowdhury

In December 2022, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General announced a memorandum of understanding1 memorializing their partnership "to protect health care markets."2

This latest effort to "support the objectives of the President's Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy"3 attracted little attention. But a closer look at the MOU reveals consequential and significant signals about the agencies' enforcement intentions going forward.

In several recent prosecutions of health care companies for price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation, the government was willing to resolve criminal charges short of conviction.

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