In re Novartis and Par Antitrust Litigation
- Alvin Hellerstein
- 1:18-cv-04361
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Novartis v. Par Antitrust Litigation, Judge Aaron granted the End-Payor Plaintiffs’ request to seal paragraphs 19–28 of a declaration.
The End-Payor Plaintiffs, Angeion Group LLC as a non-party, and members of the public seeking access to the specified declaration paragraphs are affected. Paragraphs 19–28 remain under seal, while a redacted version is publicly filed.
What happened
In In re Novartis and Par Antitrust Litigation, the End-Payor Plaintiffs asked to keep certain paragraphs of a declaration by Angeion Group LLC under seal. Angeion is not a party to the case and said the paragraphs described confidential anti-fraud methods and its proprietary fraud-detection system.
The court found a valid basis for sealing the selected paragraphs and granted the motion. A redacted version was to be filed publicly. The order did not state that the entire declaration would be sealed.
Judge Stewart D. Aaron entered the July 10, 2024 order. The ruling protects the specified business-sensitive information from public disclosure while leaving a redacted version available on the docket.
The detailed version
- In re Novartis and Par Antitrust Litigation · No. 1:18-cv-04361
- Alvin Hellerstein
- July 10, 2024
Background
The End-Payor Plaintiffs asked permission to file under seal paragraphs 19–28 of the Declaration of Rebecca J. Evans of Angeion Group LLC concerning fraud detection, deficiency processing, and distribution. The request relied on the presumption of public access to court records and the recognized protection for business information that could harm a litigant’s or non-party’s competitive standing.
Angeion, which the opinion identifies as a non-party, requested redaction of paragraphs 19–28 because they described details of its efforts to detect fraudulent claims. Angeion stated that public disclosure could reveal methods and techniques used to combat fraudulent submissions. The same paragraphs also contained proprietary details about Angeion’s fraud-detection system, AngeionAffirm, which Angeion described as competitively sensitive and potentially harmful to its business if disclosed.
Ruling
The court found that a valid basis existed to seal the selected paragraphs and granted the motion to seal. The request to keep paragraphs 19–28 under seal was granted, and a redacted version was to be filed on the docket. The opinion does not state that the alternative request to seal the entire declaration was granted.
Effect
The ruling limits public access to paragraphs 19–28 of the Angeion Declaration. It does not resolve the underlying antitrust claims described by the case name.
Judge and date
The order states that it was entered by Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron on July 10, 2024.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.