Health Care and Life Sciences Practice

On October, 20, 2005, The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Chief Administrative Law Judge, Stephen J. McGuire (“ALJ”), issued an Initial Decision finding that Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corporation’s (“Evanston”) acquisition of Highland Park Hospital (“Highland Park”) violated § 7 of the Clayton Act. The ALJ ordered Evanston to divest itself of Highland Park within 180 days of the ALJ Order becoming final. As explained in more detail below, the ALJ found that Evanston and Highland entered into the transaction with the purpose and intent of raising prices to managed care organizations. Because of the greater market power that Evanston obtained as a result of the transaction, the ALJ found that the merged entity was able to raise prices significantly to managed care organizations.