Judge tosses doc’s second attempt at suing American Board of Radiology over MOC fees
A judge has tossed a Tennessee physician’s second attempt at suing the American Board of Radiology, alleging the nonprofit has violated antitrust laws.
Radiologist Sadhish Siva, MD, had charged that the ABR illegally ties its initial certification of docs to continuing professional development requirements, building a “monopoly” in the process. U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso, however, disagreed, dismissing the lawsuit last week, determining that Siva and his attorneys failed to adequately argue that ABR violated antitrust rules, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reported Monday.
ABR declined to comment on the dismissal when reached late Monday.
The district court decision is the latest in a long-running legal battle over ABR’s practices, dating back to at least February 2019. Siva first filed his class-action suit back then, which an Illinois judge later dismissed, leading to the amended complaint a year later. Siva and his attorneys had charged that ABR forced tens of thousands of radiologists to buy “worthless” professional-development products, the suit stated, or risk having their credentials revoked. And they’ve amassed $90 million in maintenance of certification fees in the process, Siva said.
The American College of Radiology and its Taskforce on Certification echoed some of these concerns in a report issued back in November. You can read more about the dispute in this feature from Radiology Business Journal, and read Siva’s original and amended complaints here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.