EXCLUSIVE CONTRACT

Bocobo v. Radiology Consultants of S. Jersey, No. 02-1697 (D.N.J. Nov. 21, 2005)

A physician filed suit against a hospital system and his former group after his group terminated him and then formed a new group without him that was granted an exclusive contract to provide radiology services at the system's hospitals. The defunct group had held an exclusive contract to provide these services prior to its dissolution, but because it no longer existed and because the physician was not a member of the new group, he could not serve as a radiologist on the staff of any of the hospital system's facilities. The physician claimed the hospital system failed to hold a hearing before he lost his privileges, that it conspired with the president of the radiology group to terminate his privileges, and that he was terminated for being a whistleblower over the course of 15 years.

The United States District Court of New Jersey granted the hospital system's and group's motions for summary judgment in their entirety. The court found the hospital system was not obligated to conduct a hearing related to the reassignment of the exclusive contract, as the action was purely a management decision. Further, the court found no evidence of a conspiracy between the hospital system and the president of the radiology group. Therefore, the hospital system was dismissed from the suit as there were no remaining claims against it.