Idaho Orthopedists Charged with Engaging in Group Boycotts and Denying Medical Care to Injured Workers
The Department of Justice reached a settlement today with the Idaho Orthopaedic Society, an orthopedic practice group and five orthopedists that will prohibit them from conspiring with competing physicians in the Boise, Idaho, area to deny medical care to injured workers and to engage in group boycotts to obtain higher fees. The department said that the defendants and other orthopedists conspired to gain more favorable fees and other contractual terms by agreeing to coordinate their actions, including denying medical care to injured workers and threatening to withdraw from healthcare plans offered by Blue Cross of Idaho. The department said that their conduct caused the state of Idaho and other healthcare consumers to pay higher fees for orthopedic services. The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, joined by the Idaho Attorney General’s office, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, against the Idaho Orthopaedic Society, Idaho Sports ...