CRA assists FTC in upholding of merger complaint

On April 29, Chief Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell upheld a US Federal Trade Commission complaint challenging the consummated merger of Otto Bock Health Care North America and Freedom Innovations, two of the largest sellers of microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knees. Senior Consultant to CRA Fiona Scott Morton testified in the trial on behalf of the FTC. She presented detailed arguments about the appropriate antitrust market in which to evaluate the merger, and the likely anticompetitive competitive effects of the merger. Her arguments included critical loss analysis, upward pricing pressure analysis, and an analysis of the likely loss of incentives to innovate due to the merger. Her testimony was well received by the Court, and she was cited favorably numerous times in Judge Chappell’s decision to uphold the complaint.