Patrick v. Burget et al. (486 U.S. 94)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 16, 1988 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 486 U.S. 94 · 108 S. Ct. 1658
- Decided
- May 16, 1988
- Term
- October Term 1987
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Marshall
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented in this case is whether the state-action doctrine of Parker v. Brown, 317 U. S. 341 (1943), protects physicians in the State of Oregon from federal antitrust liability for their activities on hospital peer-review committees. I Astoria, Oregon, where the events giving rise to this lawsuit took place, is a city of approximately 10,000 people located in the northwest comer of the State. The only hospital in Astoria is the Columbia Memorial Hospital (CMH). Astoria also is the home of a private group-medical practice called the Astoria Clinic. At all times relevant to this case, a majority of the staff members at the CMH were employees or partners of the Astoria Clinic. Petitioner Timothy Patrick is a general and vascular surgeon. He became an employee of the Astoria Clinic and a member of the CMH’s medical staff in 1972. One year later, the partners of the Clinic, who are the respondents in this case, invited petitioner to become a partner of the Clinic. Petitioner declined this offer and instead began an independent practice in competition with the surgical practice of the Clinic. Petitioner continued to serve on the medical staff of the CMH. After petitioner established his independent practice, the physicians associated with the Astoria Clinic consistently refused to have professional dealings with…
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