On June 14, 2016, a federal district court in the Northern District of Illinois denied a request from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the pending merger of Advocate Health Care Network (Advocate) and NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore). This decision represents a second recent health care antitrust loss for the FTC after a federal district court in Pennsylvania similarly denied an FTC request to block a pending hospital merger on May 9, 2016 (see related Pulse mailing).

This case concerns a proposed merger between Advocate and NorthShore (the Systems) that would create a 15-hospital system (Merger) in northern Chicago, Illinois and its suburbs. The FTC challenged the Merger in December 2015, alleging in part that it violated Section 5 of the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. § 45) and Section 7 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. § 18) because, if consummated, it would substantially lessen competition in the market for general acute care inpatient hospital services reimbursed by commercial payors. The FTC, joined by the State of Illinois, subsequently sought a preliminary injunction in federal court to stay the Merger until completion of the FTC’s administrative trial on its antitrust claims.