Mercy-Peninsula Ambulance, Inc. v. County of San Mateo

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

This antitrust action concerns the provision by ambulance personnel of paramedic service, the highest level of pre-hospital emergency medical care, in the defendant County of San Mateo (“the County”). Defendants Medevac, Inc. (“Medevac”) and 911 Emergency Services, Inc. (“911”) provide primary emergency ambulance service for the County and defendant hospitals through the County’s public dispatch lines; plaintiff provides “back-up” service when the primary providers cannot respond to a call. The gravamen of plaintiff’s complaint is that the County, in conspiracy with the other defendants, has refused to certify as paramedics any ambulance personnel other than that employed by the primary providers Medevac and 911. Plaintiff alleges that defendants’ actions constitute a concerted refusal to deal in violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act and an exercise of monopoly power in violation of § 2; it seeks damages and injunctive relief.

. Each of the defendants has moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). They contend that they are immune from antitrust liability under the “state action” doctrine of Parker v. Brown, 317 U.S. 341 , 63 S.Ct. 307 , 87 L.Ed. 315…