Federal Trade Commission (FTC) news and information

Outgoing Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz talks with Modern Healthcare legal affairs reporter Joe Carlson about the commission's close scrutiny over healthcare, and how antitrust enforcement affects competition and the prices that consumers pay for drugs and healthcare services.
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Two federal officials with significant influence in healthcare are leaving the Obama administration. Dr. Carolyn Clancy, who has led HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for nearly a decade, will leave her post “in the coming months,” according to a memo to employees from HHS...
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Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz is stepping down from his role as one of the top antitrust watchdogs in Washington, but observers say a change in leadership is unlikely to remove healthcare as a top priority at the agency.
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The American Medical Association joined healthcare and consumer groups calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to limit the ability of drugmakers to enter agreements that keep generic competition off the market.
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Generic drugs are supposed to compete with branded pharmaceuticals to drive down prices, but a report from the Federal Trade Commission says a spike in legal settlements among drugmakers in 2012 stifled competition and cost Americans an extra $3.5 billion.
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Tenet Healthcare Corp. has received federal antitrust approval to acquire an independent physician association with more than 400 doctors based in Long Beach, Calif.—a deal that has not been publicly announced, and which the parties will not comment on.
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A Federal Trade Commission order for commercial data miners to disclose information about how they obtain and use consumers' information likely will expose a dark market in health-related information, a leading privacy advocate says.
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The collision of old-world antitrust enforcement and new ideas like accountable care, bundled payments, value-based purchasing and patient-centered medical homes has ratcheted up the uncertainty over healthcare deals.
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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in a "pay-for-delay" case that has the Federal Trade Commission accusing generic drugmakers of violating competition laws by agreeing to accept $42 million in annual payments in exchange for not selling generic versions of a more-expensive...
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Ten cardiologists in the Reno, Nev., area already are taking advantage of a first-of-its-kind settlement between Renown Health and the Federal Trade Commission that allowed the doctors to void their noncompete agreements and go to work for competitors.
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