What you should know:

– Throughout a go to to Wisconsin targeted on enterprise consolidation within the grocery trade, Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC), raised questions in regards to the FTC's doable involvement in an antitrust lawsuit towards Verona-based Epic Techniques, WKOW first reported.

– Khan's go to included a listening session in Baraboo and a press convention with Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Black Earth) to handle issues about company consolidation within the grocery trade. The FTC, underneath Khan's management, has taken a extra aggressive method to imposing antitrust legal guidelines and selling aggressive markets, particularly in industries vital to shoppers resembling healthcare and retail.

Particle Well being vs. Epic Lawsuit

Final month, healthcare knowledge startup Particle Well being filed a lawsuit accusing Epic Techniques of abusing its market dominance to stifle competitors. Particle alleges that Epic, which operates a overwhelming majority of EHR techniques within the US, has unfairly blocked Particle's entry to affected person knowledge, hindering their capacity to offer companies resembling insurance coverage claims processing and case evaluation . Epic claims its actions have been motivated by issues about affected person privateness violations, arguing that Particle's dealing with of well being data violated key privateness legal guidelines.

The potential position of the FTC

When requested whether or not the FTC would change into concerned in imposing antitrust legal guidelines within the Epic case, Khan acknowledged that he had heard issues from entrepreneurs and startups about limitations to getting into the healthcare trade from giant incumbents like Epic. She particularly famous that corporations that train important management over knowledge can pose dangers past merely limiting competitors, doubtlessly leaving techniques weak to cyberattacks and different disruptions. Nevertheless, she famous that the present lawsuit was filed by a personal firm and that the FTC had not but acted.

“We're not concerned in that lawsuit, which was filed by a personal firm, nevertheless it's really one thing I had heard issues about, particularly amongst entrepreneurs and startups making an attempt to get into the healthcare house,” Khan stated.

Khan indicated that the FTC may be part of the lawsuit by submitting an amicus temporary, which would offer the court docket with the company's skilled interpretation of the legislation. This means that the FTC is preserving an in depth eye on the matter and will select to intervene if it believes Epic's actions violate antitrust guidelines. Khan acknowledged that it was “too early” to say whether or not the FTC would file such a short within the lawsuit between Particle and Epic.

Khan's method to antitrust:

Recognized for her aggressive and progressive stance on antitrust points, Khan has challenged mergers and pushed for pro-worker guidelines throughout her tenure. This method has drawn each robust assist and opposition, with some rich Democratic donors reportedly favoring her substitute if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidency.