Home Shopping Network agreed to pay a 1.1 million dollar fine for violating an earlier consent agreement with the FTC. According to the FTC, Home Shopping made unsubstantiated efficacy claims for products designed to help consumers stop smoking, lose weight, and similar activities. Although the commission accepted the consent decree, one commissioner wrote separately to stress that home shopping was a recidivist. The action that gave rise to the fine was also the subject of the earlier consent decree. In this commissioner’s view, the fine was not an adequate deterrent to the behavior.

Full case and case summary also available online at: http://www.mlmlegal.com/legal-cases/US_v_HomeShoppingNetworkInc-1999.php