WHATCOM COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The two largest dialysis treatment companies in Washington are facing a lawsuit.

According to the Washington Attorney General’s Office, the suit was filed in connection to the companies imposing noncompete agreements on their respective medical directors.

DaVita Inc. and its largest competitor, Fresenius Medical Care Holdings Inc., are the two companies being sued by Attorney General Nick Brown.

The lawsuit alleges that both companies require their doctors to sign noncompete agreements in order to corner the dialysis treatment market.

Dialysis treatment filters waste and fluid from the blood of people with kidney failure, and is administered to around 9,000 people across the state.

DaVita and its subsidiaries operate 51 dialysis treatment centers in the state, with two in Whatcom County and one in Skagit County.

Freselius and its subsidiaries have 29 centers statewide, with one in each county.

Brown attributes the noncompete agreements to monopolization, claiming that they limit doctors from working at other centers, and prevent other dialysis providers from entering the market.

The lawsuit alleges that the noncompete agreement requirements are in violation of the Noncompetition Covenants Act and the Consumer Protection Act.