Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health may be facing an uphill battle after an appeals court judge questioned the legitimacy of a recent $400 million win in an antitrust suit, according to an Aug. 24 Law360 report.
Judge Lucy Koh questioned why certain evidence had apparently been barred from the original trial where Sutter Health fought off claims that it illegally forced insurers to agree to anti-competitive terms, forcing patients to go to more expensive hospitals, the report said
"… If you don't let someone show the before, how can a jury assess the after?" 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Koh asked Craig Stewart, who was representing Sutter Health. "How would that not be relevant? I just don't see how precluding the jury from seeing this [evidence] will let them do their duty."
The trial judge barred some evidence created before 2006 in the original case, according to the report. At a hearing for the appeal, an attorney representing the class of insurance purchasers that filed the antitrust suit argued the 2006 cutoff was arbitrary and excluded relevant evidence.
The health system is also facing a $250 million lawsuit regarding a liver depository dispute.
Becker's has reached out to Sutter Health for comment and the story will be updated accordingly.