Released September 04, 2009

Mills Fleming, chair of Hunter Maclean's healthcare practice group, obtained a favorable letter ruling from the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division relating to a unique hospital joint purchasing agreement.  The USDOJ's ruling, released publically on September 4, said that the Department "will not challenge a proposal by Memorial Health, Inc. and St. Joseph's/Candler Health System to enter a exclusive joint purchasing agreement with respect to the purchase of certain medical and surgical supplies." 
 
The USDOJ also noted that the proposed arrangement met the requirements of the applicable antitrust safety zones established for health care systems.
 
Said Fleming, "This is a precedential ruling by the Department and involved a careful review of a complicated area of the law.  Hospitals across the country are under enormous pressure to reduce costs in a manner which is legally appropriate, and I am pleased we were able to find a way to do this for our client."