Opinion ID: 6983255
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence of an agreement between the APMA and the ABPS.

Text: Despite the over-4,000 pages in the parties’ Joint Appendix, plaintiff points to virtually no evidence of collusion between the APMA and the ABPS. The plaintiff in a § 1 case must present evidence excluding the possibility that the defendants acted independently of one another; it is not enough to show actions consistent with either independent or conspiratorial action. Riverview Invs., Inc. v. Ottawa Community Improvement Corp., 899 F.2d 474, 484-85 (6th Cir.1990). Here, both the APMA and the ABPS benefit when the ABPS’s credibility within the medical community is strengthened. Thus, it is natural that each organization independently would take steps to promote the ABPS. Plaintiff has failed to carry its burden of presenting evidence that tends to exclude the possibility of independent action. Plaintiff points to evidence in the record tending to establish the following: (1) the APMA. determined that it should issue statements warning the public about unrecognized certifying boards; (2) the CPME and the ABPS were on friendly terms; (3) the APMA reviewed some of the ABPS’s literature before it was sent out and did not criticize the literature; (4) in a June, 1993, meeting, the APMA agreed to coordinate the text of one of its mass mailings with the ABPS; and (5) in an October, 1993, mailing, the APMA referred negatively to boards not recognized by the APMA. None of this evidence is sufficient to raise a genuine issue of whether the ABPS and the APMA colluded. These facts indicate that the ABPS and APMA had similar goals concerning non-ABPS boards, but the actions of both entities are as consistent with independent action as with collusive action. Even if it is assumed that the October mailing is the result of the June agreement, plaintiff does not indicate in what way the mailing was anticompetitive. 6 We affirm the district court’s ruling that plaintiff presented no triable issue of fact concerning an agreement between the ABPS and the APMA.