Texas Team Represents Henry Schein in Dismissal of FTC’s Antitrust Claims

Lauren Fincher (Austin) represented Henry Schein Inc. in a multi-week trial before Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chief Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell, who on October 15, 2019, issued an initial decision dismissing the FTC’s antitrust claims against Henry Schein. The FTC claimed Henry Schein conspired with two additional dental supply companies to deny discounts to buying groups of independent dentists. In his initial decision, Judge Chappell found the case against Henry Schein “considerably weaker” than that against the other companies, due to evidence Henry Schein continued to work with and provide discounts to buying groups during the alleged conspiracy period. Based on these findings, Judge Chappell concluded that the evidence failed to prove a conspiracy involving Henry Schein, but held that the FTC did prove some of its antitrust claims against the other two dental suppliers.
Posted on November 8, 2019