Lawsuit update – August 29, 2002

"On Friday, August 23, the Academy's lawsuit against four local insurers (Aetna Health Inc., Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Humana, Inc., and UnitedHealthcare, Inc.) was expanded by the filing of an Amended Complaint in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas and the Boone County Circuit Court," said Russell Dean, executive director of the Academy of Medicine of Cincinnati. "With the filing of the amendment, the Butler County Medical Society, the Northern Kentucky Medical Society, and several other local physicians join the Academy of Medicine as class representatives against the insurers."

According to a press release issued by plaintiffÕs attorney Stanley Chesley, Esq., of Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley Co., LPA, the case will now proceed into the discovery phase during which documents will be produced and reviewed, and depositions taken in preparation for trial, with details as to the unlawful anti-trust violations that these companies have been responsible for, thus leading to the reduction (as much as 50 percent) in reimbursements to doctors and hospitals, as compared to Columbus, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Dayton, Louisville, and Lexington.

"This litigation will effectively represent approximately 2,000 doctors located from Grant County, Kentucky, in the south; to Middletown, Ohio, in the north; and from the Indiana border to Brown County, Ohio, in the east. Ninety-two percent of these doctors are victims of the conduct of one or more of these HMOs. We are looking forward to proceeding and taking the depositions of these people under oath and moving forward to a trial before a jury," said Mr. Chesley. The court will ultimately determine who comprises the plaintiff class.

In addition to Mr. Chesley, plaintiffÕs attorneys are Jean Geoppinger, Esq., of Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley Co., LPA; Richard Wayne, Esq., and Joseph Braun, Esq., of Strauss & Troy; and Michael Barrett, Esq., of Barrett & Weber, LPA. Representing the defendants are Robert Fogarty, Esq., of Hahn Loeser & Parks, LLP, counsel for Aetna; James Adams, Esq., of Frost Brown Todd LLC, counsel for Anthem; Mark Hayden, Esq., of Greenbaum Doll & McDonald PLLC, counsel for Humana; and Stephen Butler, Esq., of Thompson Hine, counsel for UnitedHealthcare.