United States v. A. Lanoy Alston, D.M.D., P.C. Ronald D. Walker Desert Valley Dental, Ltd. Richard B. Meyer Aaron L. ("Lanoy") Alston

We examine three dentists’ criminal antitrust convictions.

Background

Aaron Lanoy Alston, Richard B. Meyer and Ronald D. Walker provide dental services for members of prepaid dental plans in Tucson, Arizona. They and other providers receive two kinds of payments: capitation fees, which are paid by the plans to the dentists based on the number of plan-member patients they see, and co-payment fees, which are paid by the patients to the dentists based on the services performed. The plans, not the dentists, determine both fee amounts.

Co-payment fees in Tucson had not risen for ten years, although they had in other cities, including nearby Phoenix. Some Tucson dentists were failing to break even on the most commonly performed services, such as porcelain crowning. Several Tucson dentists had individually approached the plans about increasing the fee schedule; their efforts proved unsuccessful. Drs. Alston, Meyer and Walker were among the dentists who felt the fees were too low. They met with about fifty local dentists at Dr. Alston’s office to discuss the fees, after which many of those present at the meeting mailed letters to the plans requesting higher fees. The plans did in fact…