Spring 2015, Volume 4, Number 2

In this CPI issue, we look at two key decisions relating to the healthcare sector in the U.S. Both could have strategic impact on the stakeholders involved and the healthcare sector. In North Carolina Dental Board case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “state action” antitrust immunity (the 1943 Parker decision) was not applicable to actions of the state dental board (that comprised private practitioners and had issued diktats against non-dentists from performing certain procedures that it believed were in the exclusive domain of licensed dentists), and held certain actions of the concerned state board to be anti-competitive. The authors discuss the nuances of this decision and how it could affect professionals across the U.S.