UPMC and Highmark Inc. ended four years of antitrust litigation Monday by dismissing their lawsuits to meet a federal judge's order.
U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti on Dec. 19 ordered Highmark to compel its West Penn Allegheny Health System board to drop the original antitrust lawsuit filed in 2009 and ordered UPMC to drop its competing 2012 antitrust lawsuit.
Both companies dismissed their lawsuits with prejudice, which means they can't re-file them.
The dismissals leave a third antitrust lawsuit that names both companies as defendants.
Royal Mile Co., a Whitehall property management company, Cole's Wexford Hotel Inc. of Pine and a customer claim that a conspiracy between Highmark and UPMC allowed Highmark to charge them excessive premiums. Conti on Sept. 27 threw out the second version of their complaint, giving them 30 days to file another or appeal the decision.
Their lawyers filed an amended complaint, but Conti has not decided whether to let that complaint move forward.
This article was originally published on TribLIVE, a Channel 11 News partner.
Brian Bowling is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at (412) 325-4301 or bbowling@tribweb.com.
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