The battle for Auckland's $560 million community laboratory contract has ended with the Supreme Court declining to hear an appeal by ousted operator Diagnostic Medlab.
Diagnostic Medlab's (DML) hold on the contract was successfully challenged in the Court of Appeal last year by Lab Tests, now owned byHealthscope.
Lab Tests won the original tender from the Auckland region district health boards for the eight-year contract, but DML successfully challenged the decision in the High Court.
DML claimed, and the High Court agreed, there was an improper use of insider information by former Lab Tests' boss Tony Bierre before he resigned from the Auckland District Health Board.
The High Court also ruled the three Auckland DHBs did not consult widely enough.
But the Court of Appeal overturned all of that in September, saying the health boards did consult properly and Dr Bierre acted appropriately once his conflict of interest arose.
In its decision today to decline leave to appeal the Supreme Court said it agreed with the Appeal Court's findings and there were no legitimate grounds for further appeal.
It ordered DML to pay $2500 in costs to both Lab Tests and the Auckland region DHBs.
Following Lab Test's Appeal Court victory last year the district health boards and Healthscope said the process of supplying services under the contract for the remainder of the term was under way.
The process was expected to be completed within the next nine months, irrespective of DML's attempt to relitigate the case.
