Vinod C. Bhan, C.R.N.A. v. Nme Hospitals, Inc., a Delaware Corporation, Dba Manteca Hospital

Yinod C. Bhan, a nurse anesthetist, appeals from the dismissal of his antitrust suit under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Bhan argues that the district court erred in concluding that he lacked standing to sue under the antitrust laws. He disputes the ruling upon which the district court based its decision, that, as a matter of law accepting the allegations of Bhan’s complaint as true, nurse anesthetists and M.D. anesthesiologists do not compete since they do not function in the same market.

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Bhan is a certified registered nurse anesthetist, who, until April 1983, performed the bulk of his practice at Manteca Hospital in Manteca, California, pursuant to the hospital’s contract with Associated Anesthesia Services. That contract expired on March 31, 1983, at which time the hospital allegedly adopted a policy of allowing only M.D. anesthesiologists to perform anesthesia services in the hospital’s operating rooms. Consequently, appellant claims that he was precluded from practicing his profession at Manteca Hospital.

Bhan filed his complaint on March 28, 1983. He alleged that the hospital’s policy violates the federal antitrust…