Antitrust 
BYTE

On August 20, 2020, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced internal changes designed for more “vigilant enforcement.” Among other changes, DOJ is creating the Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance. The creation of this new office reinforces statements made by Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim to the effect that settlement decrees and related agreements are intended to serve as tools for “effective enforcement, rather than regulation.”

In addition, DOJ created a Civil Conduct Task Force to focus on “non-merger civil enforcement” of the antitrust laws and announced the realignment of certain responsibilities within the Antitrust Division’s six civil sections. This realignment is an apparent recognition “that technology has reshaped the competitive landscape in several industries that the Antitrust Division analyzes on a regular basis.”

Although enforcement in the health care industry was not specifically mentioned in this recent notice, activities involving health care entities will clearly fall within the domain of both the Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance, and the Civil Conduct Task Force. Moreover, after recently filing suit to block a partial acquisition of a hospital, Mr. Delrahim was quoted as saying that “[p]reserving competition in the healthcare markets is a priority of the Department of Justice because of its importance on the health and well-being of Americans.”

* * *

For additional information about the issues discussed above, or if you have any other antitrust concerns, please contact the Epstein Becker Green attorney who regularly handles your legal matters, or one of the authors of this Antitrust Byte:

E. John Steren
Member of the Firm
esteren@ebglaw.com

Patricia Wagner
General Counsel / Chief Privacy Officer
pwagner@ebglaw.com

Jump to Page

Privacy Preference Center

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.