Owens v. Aetna Life & Casualty Co.

I

The majority opinion is a paradigm of the existentialist statement by Humpty Dumpty that words mean what he says they mean,1 or, as in this case, that the issue is *234what the majority says it is. In essence, Judge Gibbons analyzes the conspiracy alleged as if it were that Aetna, acting in concert with other members of the rating bureau, decided to provide medical malpractice coverage only at group rates through state medical societies. He then concludes that such activity is the business of insurance and therefore qualifies for treatment under the McCarran-Ferguson Act exemption to the Sherman…