Northeast Region

The Northeast Region (NER) works to enforce the federal antitrust laws through merger and anticompetitive conduct investigations and litigation across an array of industries. NER has scored a number of key victories to preserve competition in the health care industry, including successfully litigating the Commission’s challenge to the proposed $2.4 billion merger of Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Pinnacle Health System. The proposed merger would have combined the two largest hospital systems and substantially reduced competition in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area. NER secured a preliminary injunction blocking the merger, and a Third Circuit Court of Appeals opinion validated the Commission’s approach to analyzing hospital mergers.

NER also obtained a settlement resolving charges that Cardinal Health illegally monopolized 25 radiopharmaceutical markets across the U.S., and forced hospitals and clinics to pay inflated prices for these drugs. The office obtained a federal court order granting both injunctive relief and the disgorgement of $26.8 million in alleged ill-gotten gains. In addition, NER prevailed in its administrative trial against North Texas Specialty Physicians, which resulted in findings upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that the group of 600 independent physicians had conspired to fix prices in the Fort Worth area.

The Northeast Region (NER) has fostered and strengthened partnerships with its state and local partners through both law enforcement actions and outreach. NER has brought numerous cases with state attorneys general as co-plaintiffs, including Hershey/Pinnacle, The Tax Club, LeanSpa, and 4 Star Resolution LLC. In addition, NER has worked with numerous state and local partners to educate consumers and businesses. For example, NER has sponsored Ethnic Media Briefing events in New York City and Boston where NER, together with representatives from state attorneys general offices, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), other law enforcement agencies, and legal services organizations, discussed spotting and avoiding scams with the media and community advocates. NER also conducts extensive outreach to older adults, highlighting the FTC’s “Pass it On” campaign. NER also provides guidance to small businesses by, for example, partnering with the BBB serving Metropolitan NY to produce a webinar for small businesses, and working with the Small Business Administration and local Chambers of Commerce to disseminate the FTC’s consumer tips and warnings. NER also frequently participates in events sponsored by state bar associations and legal education organizations, speaking on both competition and consumer protection topics, including the FTC’s antitrust enforcement activities, privacy and data security, and advertising.