Antitrust Enforcement

March 31, 2015

The FTC has entered into a settlement with Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc., the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County, and HCA Inc. resolving the Commission’s charge that the Hospital Authority’s acquisition of Palmyra Park Hospital, Inc. from HCA Inc. – which created an effective hospital monopoly in the Albany, Georgia area – was anticompetitive. This consent agreement follows a significant Supreme Court victory in 2013 that reaffirmed the narrow scope of state action immunity and allowed the Commission to challenge this transaction. Due to the unavailability of structural relief, the consent does not require a divestiture. FTC

March 27, 2015

The FTC mailed 358 refund checks totaling $939,207 to consumers who lost money after paying performance deposits to become business or sales consultants to National Business Consultants, Inc. and its owner, Robert Namer. According to the FTC, the company falsely told consumers, among other things, that they provide consulting assignments, so consumers do not have to market their own services, that their consultants and sales consultants were likely to earn between $35,000 and $100,000 per year through their program, and that the company would refund deposits to consultants who earn a specific amount of money within a certain time frame. FTC

March 20, 2015

The FTC mailed 10,620 refund checks totaling more than $416,000 to consumers who lost money buying two skin creams marketed by L’Occitane, Inc., which falsely claimed the creams had “body slimming” capabilities. The refunds are being made from money collected under a January 2014 settlement order with the company, which also agreed to stop making deceptive claims that its Almond Beautiful Shape and Almond Shaping Delight skin creams have body-slimming capabilities and are clinically proven. FTC

March 18, 2015

The FTC mailed 17,606 refund checks totaling $954,828 to consumers who lost money buying a supposedly superior calcium supplement, AdvaCAL, marketed by Lane Labs-USA Inc. The refunds are being made from money collected under a 2010 U.S. Court of Appeals ruling and 2011 district court decision finding Lane Labs in contempt of a 2000 order, based on the company’s false and unsubstantiated claims for the supplement. Lane Labs claimed that AdvaCAL was the only calcium supplement that could increase bone density, and was on par or superior to prescription drugs used to treat osteoporosis. FTC