A little-known fact is that Senator Ted Cruz spent time at the FTC during a time when there were, as he reflects, certain bipartisan efforts. One of his most important projects during his time there was his association with...more
The gig economy just got a strong ally in its fight to remain union-free: the federal government. The latest development in the ongoing saga involving an attempt to put into place the nation’s first unionization law that...more
On July 25, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) submitted comments to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) supporting a proposed rule only affecting VA facilities that would authorize Advanced Practice Registered...more
West Virginia recently passed legislation aimed at shielding an in-state hospital merger from antitrust review by the Federal Trade Commission, and if the West Virginia Health Care Authority and West Virginia Attorney General...more
Beginning with the Federal Trade Commission’s 2007 decision in Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corp., holding that a hospital merger in the North Chicago suburbs violated the antitrust laws, the FTC has experienced...more
On October 14, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued guidance on how state regulatory boards can regulate their professions without running afoul of the antitrust laws (“Guidance”). The Guidance was issued in...more
Earlier this year, we covered the Supreme Court’s decision in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC, which held that a state regulatory board composed of “active market participants” was not immune to federal...more
U.S. Supreme Court Holds That State Action Immunity Does Not Apply to State Boards If the Board Is Controlled by Active Market Participants - On Feb. 25, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held, in a 6-3 decision, that a state...more
In a closely followed decision with significant consequences for state licensing boards and their members, the Supreme Court in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission, 135 S. Ct. 1101...more
In This Issue: - Dismissal in P.F. Chang’s Data Breach Case Shows Challenge Plaintiffs Face in Such Actions - Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Decision Underscores the Need to Evaluate Insurance Programs for Cyber...more
On February 25, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission, holding that a regulatory board made up of market participants is exempt from...more
Federal and state courts are expected to rule on several nationally watched antitrust health care cases during the first half of 2015. As we enter into the first week of the New Year, Nexsen Pruet associate Rachel...more
After nearly two decades of silence on the state action doctrine, on October 14, 2014, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in the Court’s second case on the subject in two years: The North Carolina Board of...more
On October 14, 2014, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case that could have significant implications for hybrid public/private “regulatory” bodies. Many such bodies, like state and local wine...more
Which exercise of safeguarding the people will prevail: a State’s regulation of professionals providing services to its citizens, or the antitrust agencies’ protection of consumers against anticompetitive conduct? The United...more
The Supreme Court has a renewed interest in the state action doctrine. After declining to clarify what types of state action are exempt from federal antitrust scrutiny for years, the Supreme Court agreed to hear its second...more
In this Issue: - Focus On The Federal Trade Commission - Supreme Court Decision in FTC v. Actavis Provides Guidance on Pay-for-Delay - DOJ Prevails on Liability in eBooks Antitrust Case in the Southern District...more
In a ruling that may impact how professionals attempt to limit competition from alternative providers, the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners (Board) failed to convince the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth...more
On May 31, 2013, the Fourth Circuit issued an opinion upholding the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) determination that the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners (Board) illegally expelled non-dentists from the teeth...more
The North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners (“Board”) failed to convince the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that the Board’s successful effort to “expel non-dentist providers from the North...more
The United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc., No. 11-1160, 568 U.S. __ (2013), makes clear that a state’s authorization to act in a manner with potentially anticompetitive...more
In an opinion that has implications for the health care industry and beyond, the Supreme Court, in Federal Trade Commission v. Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc., last month clarified the standard for exempting “state-action”...more
In a closely watched decision, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court has reversed an 11th Circuit decision that invoked the state action doctrine to prevent the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from challenging a state hospital...more
Last week a unanimous Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated opinion in FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc., addressing the "State action" exemption from application of the federal antitrust laws for the first time...more