Amicus Brief: Reading Hospital v. Hill-Rom
COSAL filed an amicus brief in Reading Hospital v. Hill-Rom, No. 25-2969. The brief urges the reversal of a district court decision that misapplies Third Circuit precedent announced in LePage’s Inc. v. 3M, 324 F.3d 141 (3d Cir. 2003), and consistently followed since. The brief was authored by Dan Walker and Jessica Seigel of Berger Montague, whom we applaud for their rigorous advocacy and important contribution to strengthening antitrust enforcement in the healthcare sector.
Redding Hospital alleged that Hill-Rom, a hospital bed supplier, monopolized the national markets for standard hospital beds, ICU beds, and birthing beds.
The brief explains that the lower court improperly narrowed the scope of bundling-based claims to situations in which a single-product producer challenges bundling by a multi-product seller. The district court also evaluated plaintiffs’ bundling allegations in isolation, rather than considering them together with plaintiff’s related exclusive dealing claims. Finally, the court further held that plaintiff’s allegations of twenty percent market foreclosure were insufficient—effectively requiring plaintiffs to plead specific foreclosure thresholds instead of assessing how the challenged conduct harms competitors and consumers in practice.
