It took three years for Massachusetts hospital giant Partners HealthCare System to negotiate the state attorney general’s approval of its plan to acquire three more hospitals to add to its current 12.  But last Thursday a state court flatly rejected the AG-approved deal.  And the rejection was expressed in notably harsh terms.

Partners was created in 1994 by the merger of Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospitals.  Since then, it has thrived, growing to 12 hospitals, 6,000 doctors, and 60,000 employees.  Three years ago it announced plans to acquire yet three more hospitals.  AG Martha Coakley filed an antitrust action, and the two sides began negotiation of a consent decree.

The negotiations resulted in a consent decree between Partners and Coakley, which was duly submitted to Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders for approval.  It triggered a storm of protest.  Needless to say, the loudest protesters were competitor hospitals and insurance companies.  Notably, though, they also included current AG Maura Healy, who had succeeded Coakley in office.  And Healy made it known earlier in the week that she planned to file an antitrust suit if Judge Sanders rejected the consent decree.

Last Thursday Judge Sanders issued a 48-page opinion rejecting and lambasting the consent decree.  The primary grounds?  Failure to adequately guard against Partners’ abuse of its enhanced market muscle, with a resulting diminution in competition and a spike in health care costs.

A secondary reason was something of a surprise.  Sanders noted that the consent decree required the court to stay heavily involved, monitoring the arrangement over a ten-year period.  She questioned whether that was really workable.

The decision is Mass. v. Partners HealthCare, case no. 14-2033 (Suffolk Mass. Super. Ct., Jan. 29).