Arizona’s HonorHealth System Dodges Podiatry Antitrust Lawsuit

Phoenix-area hospital system HonorHealth escaped antitrust litigation brought by a podiatric surgery practice, when a federal judge tossed a challenge to a policy requiring orthopedic surgeons to perform all procedures that treat foot and leg trauma.

Judge Douglas L. Rayes dismissed the case late Thursday from the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, where Oasis Foot & Ankle LLC accused HonorHealth of colluding with three orthopedic surgery practices in a “hub-and-spoke conspiracy” aimed at enacting the restrictions.

A hub-and-spoke scheme requires “horizontal” coordination among competitors, like the orthopedic groups, not just separate “vertical” agreements between each of them ...