January 31, 1997

• For Your Information: JANUARY 31, 1997
  Announced Actions for Janaury 31, 1997
  The FTC has approved the application of Rite Aid Corporation, of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, to divest a drug store in Lincoln, Maine, to Hannaford Bros. Co., of Scarborough, Maine.
• For Your Information: JANUARY 31, 1997
  Mobile Health Resources, L.L.C.
  Staff of the Federal Trade Commission will not recommend an antitrust challenge to a proposed network of ambulance companies to provide medically-related transportation services on a regional or statewide basis to health care plans, health maintenance organizations, and other large purchasers in Michigan.

January 30, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 30, 1997
  FTC Settles Charges with American Cyanamid; Agency Alleged Company Had Fixed Prices and Restricted Competition
  The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it had reached an agreement with American Cyanamid settling charges that the company violated antitrust laws by fixing the resale prices of their agricultural chemical products.
• For Your Information: JANUARY 30, 1997
  Ohio Ambulance Network, Inc.
  A proposal to create a network of thirteen licensed ambulance and ambulette service providers ("members") to offer scheduled, non-emergency ambulance and ambulette services throughout northeast and southcentral Ohio does not appear to raise antitrust concerns, according to staff of the Federal Trade Commission in response to the written request of Ohio Ambulance Network, Inc., (“OAN”) for a staff advisory opinion.

January 29, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 29, 1997
  FTC Obtains Relief for Health Care Consumers in California County
  The Federal Trade Commission today announced a settlement of charges that the proposed acquisition by Tenet Healthcare Corp. of OrNda Healthcorp would threaten competition for hospital care in San Luis Obispo County, California.

January 28, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 28, 1997
  Defendants in FTC Medical Billing Software Business Opportunity Case To Pay $146,750 for Consumer Redress
  Marquette, Inc., a Georgia based company, and two of its officers, have agreed to pay $146,750 in consumer redress as settlement of Federal Trade Commission charges announced as part of "Project Telesweep"
• For Your Information: JANUARY 31, 1997
  Announced Actions for Janaury 28, 1997
  The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following actions.

January 27, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 27, 1997
  Ad Agency, Work-at-Home Promoter To Settle FTC Charges; Infomercial Contained Unproven Earnings Claims
  Hawthorne Communications, Inc., an Iowa advertising agency, will pay a $25,000 civil penalty for violating a 1994 Federal Trade Commission order requiring it to have substantiation for advertising claims, including those made by endorsers.

January 24, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 24, 1997
  Marketer of "Nightsafe" Eyeglasses Agrees To Settle Charges of Unsubstantiated Claims of Safety While Driving at Night
  Nationwide Syndications, Inc., of Barrington, Illinois, and company president Thomas W. Karon, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they made false and unsubstantiated claims regarding the benefits of their NightSafe Glasses, which purportedly make night driving safer by improving night vision.
• For Your Information: JANUARY 24, 1997
  Announced Actions for January 24, 1997
  The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following actions.

January 23, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 23, 1997
  Immigration Attorney Charged with Misleading Thousands of People Applying for Visas
  An immigration attorney who markets his professional services to immigrants who are interested in obtaining “green cards” through the State Department’s “green card lottery” has been charged by the Federal Trade Commission with misleading tens of thousands of consumers worldwide about the nature of the green card lottery and his ability to increase an individual’s chances of becoming a winner.
• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 23, 1997
  Two More FTC Cases in Car Area Target Misleading Ads with Unclear, Inaccurate Terms
  The Herb Gordon Auto World dealerships in Silver Spring, Maryland, and the Huling Bros. dealerships in Seattle, Washington, are the latest automobile advertisers to come under Federal Trade Commission fire for misrepresenting, hiding or failing to disclose the terms of their advertised automobile deals.
• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 23, 1997
  FTC Announces Project To Follow Global and Innovation-Based Competition Hearings
  The Federal Trade Commission announced today "The Joint Venture Project" to clarify and update antitrust policies regarding joint ventures and other forms of competitor collaborations.

January 22, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 22, 1997
  Pizzeria Uno Restaurant Chain Agrees to Settle FTC Charges
  The operators of the nationwide Pizzeria Uno restaurant chain have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that advertising touting a line of thin crust pizzas as "low fat" was false and misleading.
• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 22, 1997
  FTC Announces Results of the First Year of the Funeral Rule Offenders Program
  Compliance with the Funeral Rule has dramatically improved among funeral homes within the past year, the Federal Trade Commission staff announced today.

January 17, 1997

• For Your Information [CORRECTED]: JANUARY 17, 1997
  Announced Actions for January 17, 1997
  The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following action.
  
• For Your Information: JANUARY 17, 1997
  FTC Has Announced Changes in Clayton Act Threshold Figures
  The Federal Trade Commission has announced changes in the two threshold figures that define when it is unlawful for an individual to serve as an officer or director of two or more competing corporations.

January 16, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 16, 1997
  FTC Case Targets Deceptive Selling of Living Trusts
  The Federal Trade Commission has negotiated settlement agreements with two companies that sold more than 3,000 living trusts to elderly consumers in 43 states in conjunction with memberships in the American Association for Senior Citizens (AASC).

January 15, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 15, 1997
  FTC Negotiates Settlement with Mailing House over Allegedly Fraudulent Promotions
  Marketing Response Group, Inc., a Tampa, Florida-based mailing house, and related defendants named in a January 1996 Federal Trade Commission case for allegedly assisting fraudulent telemarketers have agreed to settle the FTC charges under a broad order that would bar them from sending out misleading promotional materials on behalf of telemarketers in the future.

January 14, 1997

• For Your Information: JANUARY 14, 1997
  Announced Actions for January 14, 1997
  The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following action.

January 10, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 10, 1997
  Red Apple To Pay $600,000 Civil Penalty for Failing To Divest Manhattan Supermarkets as Required by FTC
  Federal Trade Commission attorneys have filed in federal district court an agreement the Commission reached with Red Apple Companies, Inc. and its chairman, John Catsimatidis, and two other firms, under which the supermarket operators will pay a $600,000 civil penalty for failure to divest five Manhattan supermarkets.
• For Your Information: JANUARY 10, 1997
  Announced Actions for January 10, 1997
  The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following actions.

January 8, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 8, 1997
  Smokeless Tobacco Advertising and Promotional Expenditures and Revenues Up, According to FTC Report to Congress
  Nearly $126 million was spent on advertising and promotion for smokeless tobacco products in 1994 -- an increase of $6.7 million from 1993 -- and more than $127 million was spent in 1995, according to a Federal Trade Commission report to Congress.

January 7, 1997

• For Your Information: JANUARY 7, 1997
  Announced Actions for January 7, 1997
  The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following actions.

January 6, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 6, 1997
  Consumer Privacy in the Online Marketplace Addressed in FTC Staff Report
  “Notice” “Choice” “Security” “Access” -- Participants in a public workshop held by the Federal Trade Commission on privacy in the online marketplace stated that these are the four necessary elements of protecting consumer privacy online, according to a Commission staff report released today.
• For Your Information: JANUARY 6, 1997
  "Who Cares" about Health Care Products and Services? The FTC and your state Attorney General, that's who!
  Every day consumers -- especially the elderly -- face a barrage of claims about health-related products and services.

January 2, 1997

• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 2, 1997
  Abbott Settles FTC Charges of Deceptive Claims for Its "Ensure" Nutritional Products
  FTC Action Challenges "Doctor Recommended" Claim
• FOR RELEASE: JANUARY 2, 1997
  Property Inspection Franchisors Agree To Post $300,000 Bond To Protect Future Franchisees under Settlement with FTC
  Two Connecticut franchisors, charged by the Federal Trade Commission with making false claims in the course of selling their franchises for property inspection services, each have agreed under a settlement of those charges to post a $300,000 bond to protect future customers before getting involved over the next three years in a business that sells any kind of franchise or business opportunity.