http://www.antitrustreview.com/archives/606 News and commentary about antitrust, economics, technology, policy Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:00:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 http://www.antitrustreview.com/archives/606#comment-3301 Antitrust Review » More on the Orthopedics Investigations Thu, 27 Jul 2006 01:32:30 +0000 http://www.antitrustreview.com/archives/606#comment-3301 <p>[...] EasyBourse has an interesting piece on the events giving rise the current DoJ probe into the orthopedics market. Looks like an invitation to collude case to me: According to Zimmer [Holdings, Inc. - ZMH], which released second-quarter results after the closing bell Wednesday, a string of events appears to have touched off the probe. In the fall of 2005, a representative at a hospital sent an email to orthopedics companies with a bid proposal regarding orthopedic implant pricing, Zimmer said in its earnings release, which also detailed the antitrust investigation. “Upon receipt of that email, a representative of one of Zimmer’s competitors sent an unsolicited message to the same group of competitors that received the hospital’s original message,” Zimmer said. “The competitor’s email proposed that the orthopaedic companies adopt a uniform pricing strategy in responding to this hospital.” Zimmer did not name the competitor company in question. Zimmer and its local independent distributor rejected this proposal, stating “emphatically” in writing that neither Zimmer nor the distributor would participate in the pricing discussions with competitors, Zimmer said. You can also bookmark this on del.icio.us or check the cosmos [...]</p> […] EasyBourse has an interesting piece on the events giving rise the current DoJ probe into the orthopedics market. Looks like an invitation to collude case to me: According to Zimmer [Holdings, Inc. - ZMH], which released second-quarter results after the closing bell Wednesday, a string of events appears to have touched off the probe. In the fall of 2005, a representative at a hospital sent an email to orthopedics companies with a bid proposal regarding orthopedic implant pricing, Zimmer said in its earnings release, which also detailed the antitrust investigation. “Upon receipt of that email, a representative of one of Zimmer’s competitors sent an unsolicited message to the same group of competitors that received the hospital’s original message,” Zimmer said. “The competitor’s email proposed that the orthopaedic companies adopt a uniform pricing strategy in responding to this hospital.” Zimmer did not name the competitor company in question. Zimmer and its local independent distributor rejected this proposal, stating “emphatically” in writing that neither Zimmer nor the distributor would participate in the pricing discussions with competitors, Zimmer said. You can also bookmark this on del.icio.us or check the cosmos […]

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