Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pa., filed a class action lawsuit against Hill-Rom, a hospital bed maker, alleging anticompetitive behavior.
The lawsuit, filed June 20, states: "Over the past two decades, Hill-Rom has paid over half a billion dollars to customers and competitors for repeated, flagrant violations of the antitrust laws as it has aggressively sought to leverage its entrenched hospital bed monopoly through a variety of exclusionary and anticompetitive tactics."
Hill-Rom allegedly requires hospitals to sign long term, exclusive corporate enterprise agreements to prevent contracts with other supplies, according to the suit. The lawsuit notes Hill-Rom has 75% of the standard hospital beds installed at U.S. hospitals.
Reading Hospital, part of Tower Health, is seeking a trial by jury.