US dental supply companies accused of anti-competitive practices
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- Published: Monday, 22 February 2016 07:40
- Written by News Editor
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A class-action lawsuit has been taken out against Benco Dental in the USA which accuses the dental supplies distributor of conspiring to impede competitors in an illegal effort to boost the price of its own sales. The lawsuit accuses Benco of conspiring with Patterson Companies and Henry Schein in a scheme to inflate prices of dental supplies above competitive levels by pressuring dental associations not to deal with newer, cheaper distributors.
The three distributors, whose combined sales make up 80 percent of the market, are accused of threatening or employing group boycotts of other dental supplies manufacturers that endorsed or partnered with its competitors in violation of federal antitrust laws, the lawsuit says.
Philadelphia-based attorney Robert S. Kitchenoff wrote “Defendants abused their dominant collective market power by privately communicating and reaching an agreement to engage in an anticompetitive scheme to foreclose and impair competition, maintain and enhance market power, and artificially inflate prices of dental supplies above competitive levels,” However a Benco spokesperson has denied the accusations: “There is no truth to the allegations, and we’re confident that we will prevail in court.”
Plaintiff Dr Sander White, a dentist practising in Delaware County, seeks damages tripled against Benco and its co-defendants from a period of anticompetitive actions beginning in at least February 2012, the lawsuit says. A class-action status means any dentist who purchased from Benco or its partners during that time period could be eligible for a piece of the settlement. The lawsuit claims those affected by paying inflated costs are innumerable.
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