Dallas-based U.S. Anesthesia Partners has reached settlements in principle in two proposed class action lawsuits alleging it overcharged Texas patients and health plans for anesthesia.
The parties disclosed the agreements in notices filed Oct. 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. One case was brought by patient Christy Burbage. The other was brought by two union health funds, Electrical Medical Trust and Plumbers Local Union No. 68 Welfare Fund. Both name USAP, U.S. Anesthesia Partners of Texas and U.S. Anesthesia Partners Holdings as defendants.
The deals are separate. Each notice said its settlement does not resolve the claims in the other case. Neither filing discloses a dollar amount, a class definition or other terms. The parties said they are still drafting and signing formal written agreements, and the details will become public when the plaintiffs ask the court for preliminary approval.
In both cases, the parties asked the court to vacate the scheduling order and stay the case for 60 days. They told the court a pause would avoid the expense of further expert discovery. If no motion for preliminary approval has been filed by Dec. 1, the parties will give the court a status update. Both notices said that the settlement talks are not an admission of liability, and not a concession that class certification is appropriate. If the deals fall through, the parties keep the right to submit rebuttal and reply expert reports.
The settlements come a month after the court narrowed the patient case. In a Sept. 30 order, Judge Alfred Bennett dismissed the ASC-based portions of three antitrust claims for lack of standing, finding that Ms. Burbage had never paid for anesthesia at a surgery center. Her claims for monopolization, unlawful acquisition, attempted monopolization, price-fixing and market division were allowed to proceed to the extent they concerned hospital-only anesthesia.
Ms. Burbage, a Texas resident who alleged she paid USAP $916.55 for anesthesia at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano, replaced Basel Musharbash as named plaintiff in February. Mr. Musharbash filed the suit in January 2025. Her amended complaint broadened the proposed class to include patients who received anesthesia at ASCs and patients who paid for USAP services anywhere in Texas. The health plan case, by contrast, focused only on hospital anesthesia, as does the lawsuit the Federal Trade Commission filed against USAP in 2023.
On May 20, the FTC resolved an antitrust case against Welsh Carson, which was tied up in a lawsuit alongside its portfolio company, U.S. Anesthesia Partners.
“We are pleased that we have reached agreements in principle to settle both class-action lawsuits. Together with the previously announced settlement with the FTC, we look forward to putting the litigation behind us and continuing our focus on providing great care for patients,” board chairman Scott Holliday, DO, told Becker’s
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