Every year the FTC brings hundreds of cases against individuals and companies for violating consumer protection and competition laws that the agency enforces. These cases can involve fraud, scams, identity theft, false advertising, privacy violations, anti-competitive behavior and more. The Legal Library has detailed information about cases we have brought in federal court or through our internal administrative process, called an adjudicative proceeding.
Concurring Statement of Commissioner Christine S. Wilson In re MoviePass, Inc.
HeidelbergCement AG, et al., In the Matter of
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to block Lehigh Cement Company LLC’s $151 million acquisition of rival Pennsylvania-based cement producer Keystone Cement Company, alleging the deal would harm regional competition in the market for the key ingredient used to make concrete. The FTC alleges that the acquisition would harm competition in the market for gray portland cement in eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey, reducing the number of significant competitors from four to three. The administrative trial was scheduled to begin on Nov. 2, 2021, but on June 4, 2021, the FTC announced that the parties have abandoned the transaction.
Statement of Commissioners Christine S. Wilson and Noah Joshua Phillips Regarding the Federal Trade Commission's Report to Congress on Rebate Walls
Illumina, Inc., and GRAIL, Inc.
The Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative complaint and authorized a federal court lawsuit to block Illumina’s $7.1 billion proposed acquisition of Grail—a maker of a non-invasive, early detection liquid biopsy test that can screen for multiple types of cancer in asymptomatic patients at very early stages using DNA sequencing. Illumina is the only provider of DNA sequencing that is a viable option for these multi-cancer early detection, or MCED, tests in the United States.
The complaint alleges the proposed acquisition will diminish innovation in the U.S. market for MCED tests, which could be used to detect up to 50 types of cancer. Most of these types of cancer are not screened for at all today, and the MCED test could save millions of lives around the world. The trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 24, 2021. On May 20, 2021, the FTC authorized staff to dismiss its federal court complaint for Preliminary Injunction and Temporary Restraining Order.
Statement of Commissioner Rohit Chopra Regarding the Commission's Report on Pharmacy Benefit Manager Rebate Walls
Statement of Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter Regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s Report to Congress on Rebate Walls
CD Capital Investments, LLC
In September 2016, the FTC announced a court order banning the operators of an alleged mortgage relief scam that preyed upon distressed homeowners from the debt relief business. The final orders banned the defendants from selling secured or unsecured debt relief products or services, and prohibited them from misrepresenting any financial or other products or services. The orders imposed a judgment of more than $1.7 million. The FTC’s July 2014 complaint alleged the defendants claimed they could lower consumers’ mortgage payments and interest rates or prevent foreclosure, pretended to be affiliated with a government agency or consumers’ lenders or servicers, and illegally charged advance fees for these services. The FTC announced additional settlements in the case through March 2020.
In May 2021, the FTC sent payments totaling more than $147,000 in full refunds to people affected by the student loan debt relief scam.
Statement of Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Commissioner Rohit Chopra on the Closing of the 7-Eleven and Marathon Transaction
Statement of Commissioners Noah Joshua Phillips and Christine S. Wilson on the Closing of the 7-Eleven and Marathon Transaction
Statement of Commissioners Noah Joshua Phillips and Christine S. Wilson regarding the Multilateral Pharmaceutical Merger Task Force
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC
Reckitt Benckiser Group plc has agreed to pay $50 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the antitrust laws through a deceptive scheme to thwart lower-priced generic competition to its branded drug Suboxone. According to the complaint, before the generic versions of Suboxone tablets became available, Reckitt and its former subsidiary Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, now known as Indivior, Inc., developed a dissolvable oral film version of Suboxone and worked to shift prescriptions to this patent-protected film. Worried that doctors and patients would not want to switch to Suboxone Film, Reckitt allegedly employed a “product hopping” scheme where the company misrepresented that the film version of Suboxone was safer than Suboxone tablets because children are less likely to be accidentally exposed to the film product. Indivior has agreed to pay an additional $10 million to settle FTC charges. On May 10, 2021, the FTC announced that it sent nearly $60 million in payments to consumers who were victims of the scheme.
Liberty Publishers, FTC v.
The operators of a deceptive newspaper subscriptions scheme are permanently banned from the direct mail marketing business under a federal court order obtained by the Federal Trade Commission.
Manhattan Beach Venture, LLC, et al.
The Federal Trade Commission charged the operators of two similar student loan debt relief schemes, Manhattan Beach Ventures and Student Advocates Team, and a financing company that assisted them, Equitable Acceptance Corporation, with bilking millions of dollars from consumers.
In May 2021, the FTC sent payments totaling more than $273,500 to consumers who lost money to the student loan debt relief scheme.