Alliance Cancer Specialists, based in Sellersville, has filed a lawsuit against Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals and Jefferson Health for alleged attempts to monopolize cancer care in Northeast Philadelphia, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The Bucks County oncology group with more than a dozen practice sites throughout the region filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Sept. 5. It accuses Jefferson of unreasonable restraint of trade and unfair trade practices as well as anti-trust violations, tortious interference with business relations, and breach of contract.

Jefferson tried to acquire Alliance in 2016, but the specialty physicians decided to stay as an “independent competitor to the ever-growing” Jefferson system, states the suit. “Since that time, Jefferson has devised and employed a concerted campaign to eliminate [Alliance’s] presence in the oncology marketplace.”

Alliance is seeking unspecified monetary and an order that would block Jefferson from terminating the hospital privileges at Jefferson Health-Northeast for its doctors.

“As a matter of Jefferson policy, we do not comment on pending litigation,” said Jefferson in a statement provided to the Business Journal. “However, we intend to vigorously defend our position.”

Read more about Alliance Cancer Specialists in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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