The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit held this morning that the Constitution permits “recess appointments” only during the Recess between Sessions of Congress and only for positions that become vacant during the Recess. The opinion conflicts with a 2004 decision of the Eleventh Circuit. The DC case arises from a challenge to […]
Author Archives: Allison Zieve
Alabama-based bank Regions Financial Corp. has agreed to stop offering payday loans in North Carolina. Although North Carolina has banned payday loan shops or Internet services, federal law allows a bank to make those loans if allowed in the bank’s home state. This article from the Charlotte Post has the details. Payday loans are made […]
For several years, the Federal Trade Commission has challenged under the antitrust laws so-called “reverse-payment” or “pay-to-delay” settlements. In such a settlement, a brand-name drug company pays a generic-drug company not to sell a generic equivalent of a drug, thus allowing the brand-name to maintain an exclusive market at a high price for years […]
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled on Friday in Wyeth v. Weeks that a patient who took a generic version of a drug may sue a brand-name drug manufacturer for failing to warn about a drug’s risks. In June 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Pliva v. Mensing that injured patients' state-law failure-to-warn claims against […]
The FTC announced this morning that it has settled charges it brought against related companies that allegedly peddled fake mortgage assistance relief to financially distressed Spanish-speaking homeowners in the U.S. In July 2012, the FTC filed a complaint alleging that the defendants, operating from the Dominican Republic, with violating the FTC Act and the Mortgage […]
In 2010, the FTC charged Iovate Health Sciences U.S.A. and two affiliated Canadian companies with deceptively advertising that supplements called Accelis, nanoSLIM, Cold MD, Germ MD, and Allergy MD could help consumers lose weight or could treat and prevent colds, flu, and allergies. In settling with the FTC, Iovate agreed to pay $5.5 million for […]
Earlier this month, Professor Margaret Jane Radin put out a new book called Boilerplate: The Fine Print, Vanishing Rights, and the Rule of Law. Publisher Princetion University Press describes Professor's Radin's argument as follows: Margaret Jane Radin examines attempts to justify the use of boilerplate provisions by claiming either that recipients freely consent to them […]
In press releases yesterday, here and here, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that they are teaming up to fight deceptive mortgage advertising. The FTC sent warning letters to 20 real estate agents, home builders, and lead generators, urging them to review their advertisements for compliance with the Mortgage Acts […]
AdWeek has an article this morning about the more aggressive pursuit by the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection of large companies engaged in deceptive advertising. The article focuses on the Bureau's leadership under David Vladeck, who after more than three years as the Bureau's director will soon return to Georgetown Law School. As […]
The Federal Trade Commission announced this morning that it has settled two cases concerning improper use of consumer credit information. The first settlement resolves FTC allegations that the consumer reporting company Equifax Information Services violated the FTC Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act by selling lists of consumers who were late on their mortgage […]