If you received anesthesia as part of a medical procedure in Texas then you may have overpaid due to unlawful anticompetitive conduct.
On September 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) sued U.S. Anesthesia Partners (“USAP”) and its owner, New York-based private equity firm Welsh Carson, for engaging in a decade-long scheme to monopolize the market for anesthesiology services in Texas. According to the FTC, USAP executed a three-part scheme that involved acquiring competitors so that it could charge higher prices, entering into price-fixing agreements with smaller competitors, and paying other anesthesiology practices to stay out of the Texas market. As a result, Texas patients paid millions of dollars more than they should have for anesthesiology services.