Federal antitrust enforcers at the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continue to take an aggressive stance in healthcare. Two recent developments underscore the trend.
Health Law Scan
Legal Insights and Perspectives for the Healthcare Industry
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently voted to withdraw its approval of the Vertical Merger Guidelines (the 2020 VMGs), which, as we covered in the past, the FTC and Department of Justice (DOJ) issued over a year ago on June 30, 2020. The vote on September 15, 2021 to rescind the policy statement broke along party lines, with the three Democratic commissioners—Chair Lina Kahn and Commissioners Rohit Chopra and Rebecca Slaughter—outweighing their two Republican colleagues—Commissioners Noah Joshua Phillips and Christine S. Wilson.