USAP sought to appeal the lawsuit Aug. 14, claiming it was “misguided,” and urging the court to reject the FTC’s claim that it has authority to pursue the case.
The FTC first sued USAP and its private equity firm, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, in September, alleging the two groups were a part of an anticompetitive scheme to consolidate anesthesiology practices in Texas and increase prices to patients for profit.
In May, a federal judge gave the FTC permission to proceed with the lawsuit but ruled that Welson, Carson, Anderson & Stowe could be dismissed from the case.
USAP pushed the court to reject the FTC’s lawsuit, citing “government overreach” and claiming that the agency bypassed an administrative process to move forward with the lawsuit.
The FTC declined to comment, and USAP said in a statement that it was confident the appeals court would dismiss the case, according to an Aug. 13 Reuters report.
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