Wash. Cnty. Health Care Auth., Inc. v. Baxter Int'l Inc.

John J. Tharp, Jr., United States District Judge *827Salt water composes almost three-fourths of the planet, so some may be surprised to learn that the United States has a salt water shortage, of sorts. Specifically, for the last several years, the US has lacked sufficient quantities of intravenous saline solution, a medical product used to treat dehydration that consists of sodium chloride (or, as it is commonly known, salt) dissolved in water. The plaintiffs in this antitrust suit allege that the shortage was no accident; they assert that it was artificially manufactured by intravenous saline…