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China affirms application of merger control to VIE structures with gun-jumping penalties
European Commission positive about implementation of Damages Directive
Digital/TMT
Facebook hit with U.S. antitrust suits over past deals and ongoing conduct
ECJ annulment of Commission’s Paramount pay-TV decision gives third parties more weight in the commitments process
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General
U.S. FTC merger enforcement gathers pace
This month we have seen a flurry of activity on the merger control front from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Grabbing the headlines is the announcement that the FTC (and 48 attorneys general) have filed suit against Facebook, alleging that the firm breached antitrust laws through acquisitions and other conduct – see below for a separate article which sets out what you need to know.
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PHILADELPHIA – A federal judge’s ruling has altered the terms by which negligence can be pled in a lawsuit brought by the parents of a child who alleged medical malpractice in requiring their son to have emergency surgery to remove one of his testicles, but has also denied some of the case’s medical defendants the chance to escape punitive damages.
Lasheena Sipp-Lipscomb and Andres Gardin, Sr., first filed a complaint on April 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Einstein Physicians Pennypack Pediatrics, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network and others alleging violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment Act (EMTALA) and other claims.
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On December 8, 2020, Judge Gerald Pappert in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied a request from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Pennsylvania attorney general (AG) to preliminarily enjoin a proposed merger between Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (Einstein). The case was widely watched as the FTC sought to show that the combination of these two urban hospital systems would harm consumers.
Background
TJU and Einstein are two hospitals largely based in Philadelphia and neighboring counties that provide general acute care (GAC) and rehabilitative services, among other offerings. The FTC and Pennsylvania AG challenged the merger on the basis that the consolidated entity would harm competition. A central question at the hearing was whether the government could establish the geographic boundaries of the relevant markets it claimed would be harmed.
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The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) recent winning streak in its ongoing challenges of hospital and physician mergers has, at least for now, ended in a Philadelphia U.S. district court. After six days of evidentiary hearings, in a 62-page opinion, Judge Gerald Pappert denied[1] the FTC’s and Pennsylvania Attorney General’s request to preliminarily enjoin a proposed merger between Thomas Jefferson University (“TJU”) and the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (“Einstein”).
The FTC and Pennsylvania AG (together, the “Government”) brought suit to stop the merger in February. The Complaint alleged that the two hospital systems were close competitors for general acute care (“GAC”) hospital services, with TJU operating 11 GAC hospitals and Einstein operating three in the Northern Philadelphia area. The Government asserted that a combined TJU/Einstein would control at least 60% of the inpatient GAC ho
Friday, December 11, 2020
The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) recent winning streak in its ongoing challenges of hospital and physician mergers has, at least for now, ended in a Philadelphia U.S. district court. After six days of evidentiary hearings, in a 62-page opinion, Judge Gerald Pappert denied[1] the FTC’s and Pennsylvania Attorney General’s request to preliminarily enjoin a proposed merger between Thomas Jefferson University (“TJU”) and the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (“Einstein”).
The FTC and Pennsylvania AG (together, the “Government”) brought suit to stop the merger in February. The Complaint alleged that the two hospital systems were close competitors for general acute care (“GAC”) hospital services, with TJU operating 11 GAC hospitals and Einstein operating three in the Northern Philadelphia area. The Government asserted that a combined TJU/Einstein would control at least 60% of the inpatient GAC hospital services marke