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Antitrust at the Agencies: PBM Madness at the FTC, Part 2

As I noted in my last post, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Sept. 20 that it had filed a complaint:  against the three largest prescription drug benefit managers (PBMs)—Caremark Rx, Express Scripts (ESI), and OptumRx—and their affiliated group purchasing organizations (GPOs) for engaging in anticompetitive and unfair rebating practices that have artificially inflated the ... Antitrust at the Agencies: PBM Madness at the FTC, Part 2

Antitrust at the Agencies: PBM Madness at the FTC, Part 1

“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). — Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Let’s start more modestly, if less cleverly, with “curious.”  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Sept. 20 that it had filed a complaint: against the three ... Antitrust at the Agencies: PBM Madness at the FTC, Part 1

Antitrust at the Agencies: The Meat of the Matter Edition

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued comments Sept. 11 in support of a proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule that “seeks to clarify the scope of what constitutes unfair practices under the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA), which assures fair competition and fair trade practices to protect farmers, ranchers, growers, and consumers.” In the ... Antitrust at the Agencies: The Meat of the Matter Edition

Vacatur’s All I Ever Wanted

Yep, more about noncompetes. I’ve been at this a bit. I’m aware. Just last week, and then again here, here, here, here, and here at Truth on the Market; here in a more formal journal article; and here with my International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) colleagues and scholars of law and economics. Maybe ... Vacatur’s All I Ever Wanted

Some Thoughts on the Google Decision, for Those Who Haven’t ‘Binged’ It Yet

Readers of Truth on the Market are no doubt aware of Judge Amit Mehta’s Aug. 5 decision in the Google search antitrust case—that is, his 286-page memorandum and order finding Google liable for violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act (specifically, illegal monopoly maintenance in two markets: general search services and general text advertising).  Comments ... Some Thoughts on the Google Decision, for Those Who Haven’t ‘Binged’ It Yet

Antitrust at the Agencies: Just When I Thought I Was Out Edition

Noncompetes have been a subject of much interest here at Truth on the Market (see Alden Abbott, Brian Albrecht, Corbin Barthold, Gus Hurwitz, Richard Pierce Jr., and your humble-if-obsessive scribe here, here, here, here, and here). They’re also something I’ve studied independently—first, at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and then, for example, here.  I was ... Antitrust at the Agencies: Just When I Thought I Was Out Edition

Reports of the Current FTC’s Intellectual Integrity Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released its long-awaited report on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) as an “interim staff report.” And it’s yet another staff report that doesn’t name the relevant staff. On the one hand, it does contain some useful information on industry developments. On the other, it’s just not very good—at all.  With ... Reports of the Current FTC’s Intellectual Integrity Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Rounding Out the Roundup

In yesterday’s Agencies Roundup, I discussed the likely fate of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) new rule banning most noncompete agreements, read through the lens of the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision. I thought the rule infirm to begin with—a somewhat foolish swing for the fences on a regulation that the FTC couldn’t possibly enforce. ... Rounding Out the Roundup

After Loper Bright, FTC Awaits Its Turn At-Bat

In an Agencies Roundup post several weeks ago, I revisited the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) newly adopted—and not-yet-effective—rule barring the use of noncompete agreements across much of the U.S. economy. It was not my first such post (my ninth, if I’ve counted correctly, and if readers will forgo armchair diagnoses of monomania). The last time ... After Loper Bright, FTC Awaits Its Turn At-Bat

The Waiting Game: Noncompetes, Google, Roll-Ups, and More

I’ll start with a bit of half-empty, half-full (and very partial) resolution in Federal Trade Commission (FTC) publicity. Losing by Winning or Just Losing or . . . ? A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal editorial board announced that:  “Another Lina Khan Theory Loses in Court” And that was right, up to ... The Waiting Game: Noncompetes, Google, Roll-Ups, and More

The Best of All Possible Places to Work?

Are things looking up at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)? Maybe, kinda, sorta? At the margin? That’s the agency spin.  Before we get to the new public relations, let’s take a step back. Much ink has been spilled, and many pixels specified, over the performance of FTC management. Not a little of it has attended ... The Best of All Possible Places to Work?

FTC

The FTC Office of Patent Invalidation

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced late last month that it had “expanded its campaign against pharmaceutical manufacturers’ improper or inaccurate listing of patents in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Orange Book, disputing junk patent listings for diabetes, weight loss, asthma, and COPD drugs, including Novo Nordisk Inc.’s blockbuster weight-loss drug, Ozempic.” Warning letters ... The FTC Office of Patent Invalidation