On September 8, 2026, Simpson Thacher secured a major victory on behalf of client HCA Healthcare, Inc. (“HCA”) in successfully defeating class certification in a long-running antitrust litigation arising from HCA’s acquisition of Mission Hospital System (“Mission”) in the Asheville, North Carolina region. HCA was also successful in excluding a portion of plaintiffs’ expert testimony that would have been the basis for class certification.
Judge Mark A. Davis of the North Carolina Business Court declined to certify a proposed class of individuals who received care at a Mission Hospital facility bringing claims that HCA and Mission engaged in anticompetitive tactics in violation of North Carolina state antitrust law. Specifically, the putative class alleged that over the past several years (both before and after HCA’s acquisition of Mission), Mission used its monopoly power to force insurers into unfavorable contract provisions, resulting in increased prices for both inpatient and outpatient care in the Asheville area. Judge Davis declined to certify the class because Plaintiffs did not meet their burden of showing class-wide impact for purposes of predominance as required for class certification under North Carolina law. In doing so, Judge Davis also excluded plaintiffs’ expert testimony as to alleged class-wide impact because his analyses lacked any reliable econometric or statistical model that could support plaintiffs’ theory of harm.
This win comes after years of discovery and a prior win in which Simpson Thacher successfully narrowed the majority of plaintiffs’ claims at the motion to dismiss stage.
The Simpson Thacher team included Abram Ellis, Sara Razi, Rachel Sparks Bradley, Noah Gimbel, Allison Davido, Laurel Fresquez, Hayley McLaughlin, Whitney Forbis, and Jane Jho.