Baptist Health Defeats Texas Anesthesiologist’s Antitrust Appeal

A San Antonio physician lost his bid to have the Fifth Circuit revive antitrust claims over his exclusion from Baptist Health System Inc. facilities after his firing from the only medical practice that provides pediatric anesthesiology services to the hospital chain.

Dr. Jaydeep Shah’s “definition of the relevant market is insufficient as a matter of law” because it failed to identify practical pediatric anesthesia alternatives, Chief Judge Priscilla R. Owen wrote for the court. Without a properly defined market, there’s “no way to measure” the competitive impact, if any, of his exclusion by Baptist, Owen said.

The lawsuit stemmed from ...