Ventilator Maker’s 2012 Merger Spurs Query From FTC Official (1)

A member of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission says the agency should review its 2012 decision to approve the acquisition of a small ventilator company by medical-device maker Covidien Ltd., a deal that may have stymied a government effort to produce the machines.

FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democrat at the Republican-controlled commission, said Monday she wants to know more about what the companies disclosed to the agency when the FTC granted antitrust approval of the merger without an in-depth investigation.

The New York Times on Sunday reported that U.S. health officials, worried about a shortage of ...