On June 13, 2019, Eighth Circuit Judge Steven M. Colloton wrote on behalf of a three-judge panel confirming a December 2017 injunction that prohibits Sanford Health and its subsidiary Sanford Bismarck from acquiring Mid Dakota Clinic, P.C. because it would substantially lessen competition in violation of the antitrust laws. According to the FTC’s complaint, the two providers are each other’s main rivals in a four-county region with a population of about 125,000 and that if the deal were allowed to go through, other health care groups would be unlikely to provide adequate competition by entering or expanding into the market.

A copy of the Eighth Circuit opinion is available here.