Witham v. Clallam County Pub. Hosp. Dist. 2 (Summary)

ANTITRUST

Witham v. Clallam County Pub. Hosp. Dist. 2, No. C09-5410RJB (W.D. Wash. Oct. 15, 2009)

The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington dismissed several claims asserted by an oncologist in a lawsuit alleging that his community’s hospital (operated by a public hospital district) violated the federal antitrust and other laws by expanding the hospital’s business to include oncology services and making arrangements with community physicians and hospitalists to refer their patients to hospital-employed oncologists. The oncologist alleged that the result of the hospital’s actions was for its market share to increase from zero to ninety-five percent since the 1990s. The court held that the public hospital district, as a part of the local government, was immune from monetary damages for Sherman Act (antitrust) violations pursuant to the Local Government Antitrust Act. The court acknowledged that the dismissal did not apply to the physician’s claim for injunctive relief, costs, and attorney’s fees under the Sherman Act.