Who is really the bad guy here, the GPO or the manufacturer?
Though the GPO is the party that devised the practice and tries to force it upon the manufacturer, it is the manufacturer that is withholding the pricing at the request (or insistence) of the GPO. That it may be part of a written agreement between the manufacturer and the GPO doesn’t make it legal. Thus, it is the manufacturer that is most clearly at risk for any violation of law. While the GPO could be complicit, it is the manufacturer committing the act. And it is the manufacturer that would be named first in any lawsuit. 13.
