Opinion ID: 6983255
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The challenged conduct.

Text: Plaintiff bases all of its claims on allegedly false or misleading statements made by the ABPS and the APMA. The ABPS sent out three mass mailings over several years to sectors of the health care community. In 1988, the ABPS sent a letter to between 7,000 and 8,000 hospitals and insurance companies concerning podiatrist certification boards. In the fall of 1991, the ABPS sent a second mass mailing to approximately 6,000 hospitals. A third mailing was sent in October, 1992, to insurance carriers and managed care organizations. Along with these letters, the ABPS included informational brochures. In addition to these ABPS mailings, the APMA allegedly sent out materials of its own which disparaged plaintiff and supported the ABPS. The content of these mailings is discussed in more detail later in this opinion. Plaintiff claims that the ABPS and the APMA conspired to issue the challenged statements and thereby to reduce plaintiffs presence as a competitor in the market for podiatrist certification. Not only did the APMA conspire with the ABPS, plaintiff claims, but also it conspired with its own members to falsely disparage plaintiff and undermine its reputation as a certifying board. According to plaintiff, before the mass mailings it was a rising competitor in the market for podiatrist certification, but after the mailings, its market share dwindled, benefitting the ABPS.