With a Republican majority soon to be at the helm of the Federal Trade Commission, businesses are watching closely to see whether and how the regulatory landscape will shift. In this post, we break down ten things we, as...more
The FTC released two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) and an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) that would establish a new Earnings Claims Rule and expand the existing Business Opportunity Rule – changes that...more
As the demand for GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy increases with consumers eager to shed pounds, the supplement industry is weighing in. Dietary supplement companies have been considering ways to address this new demand...more
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission issued a staff report documenting its review of 70 publicly available income disclosure statements from a wide range of multi-level marketing (MLM) and direct selling companies...more
Federal courts and NAD are coming to different conclusions on whether disclosures on the back of packages can effectively qualify claims that appear on the fronts of the packages. Some courts – such as courts in the Ninth...more
Over the past two years, we have seen FTC staff express its opinions on the state of the law in multiple ways. In December 2022, for example, staff issued its Health Products Compliance Guidance, intended to supersede the...more
In May 2022, the FTC proposed changes to its Endorsement Guides. Among other things, those changes created more prescriptive disclosure requirements for endorsements, imposed various requirements for consumer reviews, and...more
Yesterday, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection released its Health Products Compliance Guidance—a sweeping overhaul of the 1998 Guidance, Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide for Industry. Unlike the recently...more
Over the last ten days, 700 companies and 70 for-profit colleges received notice of the FTC’s intent to pursue civil penalties under Section 5(m)(1)(b), if these companies and colleges engage in certain conduct deemed by the...more
On August 20, a Northern District of California court stayed the trial of an action the FTC brought against Lending Club in 2018 pending a Supreme Court ruling on the FTC’s authority to seek monetary restitution under Section...more
During last year’s Super Bowl, Anheuser-Busch ran a commercial in which a large barrel of corn syrup is delivered to the Bud Light castle. Because Bud Light doesn’t use corn syrup, the Bud Light King and a rag-tag group of...more
Last week, NAD launched a new, expedited process that will allow companies to challenge advertising claims made by competitors and get a decision within weeks as opposed to months. The process, “Single Well-defined Issue...more
Yesterday, Commissioner Christine Wilson testified before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, and asked Congress to clarify the extent of the FTC’s authority to...more
Earlier this week, the Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (DS-SRC) opened its doors for business. Its objective is to provide independent, impartial, and comprehensive monitoring of direct selling companies on an...more
Last Friday, our friend August Horvath of Foley Hoag presented at an Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) conference on consumer perception surveys. ...more
On Friday, a federal court in New York dismissed an FTC and New York Attorney General action against Quincy Bioscience, which sells the dietary supplement, Prevagen. Quincy bases claims for its product on research that...more
The consumer advocacy non-profit Truth in Advertising, Inc. (TINA.org) has set its sights on Goop, the lifestyle brand launched by Gwyneth Paltrow. In a complaint filed earlier this week with the Santa Clara and Santa Cruz...more
More than a month after the retirement of former NAD Director Andrea Levine, the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (“ASRC”) has announced NAD’s new Director: Laura Brett. Laura Brett, who has served as NAD’s Assistant...more
State Regulation -
CWAG Talks Dietary Supplements -
At a gathering of the Conference of Western Attorneys General, a panel on “Regulatory Models and Transparency” focused on enforcement against USPlabs as a case...more
STATE REGULATION -
State AGs and the New Administration -
By John Villafranco and Katie Bond -
As we discussed in recent interviews with Nutritional Outlook and Natural Products Insider, FTC enforcement against...more
The advertising industry’s self-regulatory system may be “voluntary,” but ignoring NAD’s recommendations—or declining to participate when asked—buys advertisers a prompt referral to the Federal Trade Commission. NAD often...more
It’s a common question. A company creates a product with a competitive advantage; it takes steps to substantiate a superiority claim; and, satisfied that it has met the legal standard, it bases an advertising campaign on that...more
MCC: On April 15, a working group associated with the ABA released a report* evaluating the National Advertising Division (NAD) and the state of advertising self-regulation in the U.S. You led the group in these efforts....more
The Eleventh Circuit recently issued a decision in an contempt proceeding against Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals and several individuals. The case highlights the ongoing debate over whether clinical trials are required for weight...more