On June 6, a three-member judicial panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that two main land insurers do not have an antitrust case against the Hawaii Medical Assn., the Hawaii Coalition for Health, Queens Physician Group and several named physicians. The ruling affirms an earlier decision in favor of the physicians and associations by the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. California-based attorney M. Laurence Popofsky who represented the Hawaii Medical Assn. and one of the physicians named in the lawsuit noted "[i]t's a very strong affirmation of the right of a medical association to sit down with insurance carriers and discuss a wide range of non-price terms that they present on a take-it-or-leave-it basis" in commenting on the ruling. For the entire article please go to www.ama-assn.org.

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