Sherman Act Violation – Failure to State Claim

Listen to this article

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Incorporated

Case No.: 20-3072

Officials: BRENNAN, SCUDDER, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sherman Act Violation – Failure to State Claim

In Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, the Supreme Court considered whether a complaint alleging a violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act “can survive a motion to dismiss when it alleges that major telecommunications providers engaged in certain parallel conduct unfavorable to competition, absent some factual context suggesting agreement, as distinct from identical, independent action.” 550 U.S. 544, 548–49 (2007). The Court held that such a complaint “must be dismissed” for failure to allege “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 570.

Swap major telecommunications providers for hospitals, insurers, and the American Board of Medical Specialties, add an accompanying state-law deceptive trade practices claim, and you get this case. The Association of American Physicians & Surgeons has alleged that the Board orchestrated a nationwide conspiracy to restrain trade in the market for medical care. But its complaint comes nowhere close to stating a claim under the standard announced in Twombly. The district court was right to dismiss the case.

Affirmed

Full Text

Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.