AngioDynamics (NSDQ:ANGO) said it leveled an anti-trust lawsuit against C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR), alleging that the larger company illegally ties the sales of its peripherally inserted central catheters to its tip location devices.
The lawsuit, filed today in the U.S. District Court for Northern New York, accuses Bard of maintaining its dominant position in the tip location market by only selling its proprietary offering with its own catheters.
“By doing so, customers who want to buy Bard’s tip location systems must also buy Bard’s line of PICCs, preventing hospitals and other medical providers from purchasing AngioDynamics’ superior BioFlo PICCs,” AngioDynamics said in a press release.
The suit seeks an end to the alleged anti-trust violations, triple damages and legal costs, AngioDynamics said.
“We are committed to fighting Bard’s illegal scheme that has been detrimental to patients, reduced competition and led to increased cost in the marketplace; and violated the federal antitrust laws,” president & CEO Jim Clemmer said in prepared remarks.
“This case involves a classic violation of the antitrust laws. Bard has no justification for preventing purchasers from choosing to use its market-leading tip location systems with AngioDynamics’ innovative BioFlo PICCs,” added AngioDynamics anti-trust lawyer Philip Iovieno of Boies Schiller Flexner.
