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Another One Bites the Dust: DOJ Pulls 3 Policy Statements, Leaving Trade Associations Guessing
Holland & Knight – The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice on Feb. 2, 2023, announced its withdrawal of antitrust policy statements applicable to healthcare markets, expressing a preference for a “case-by-case” enforcement approach over advance guidance for industry participants. Withdrawal of the policy statements creates uncertainty for entities outside of the healthcare industry that had relied on an established antitrust “safety zone” when conducting industry benchmarking surveys. Going forward, trade associations and others conducting surveys or supervising information exchanges among industry participants cannot depend on rigid adherence to the safety zone factors to avoid antitrust scrutiny.