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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.
On 7/26/2011, the Commission required generic drug manufacturers Perrigo Company and Paddock Laboratories, Inc. to sell six generic drugs under a proposed settlement resolving charges that Perrigo’s proposed $540 million acquisition of Paddock would be anticompetitive. The proposed settlement also contains provisions to ensure future competition in the market for generic testosterone gel product. On 6/26/2012, the FTC issued a modified final order that required the companies to sell six generic drugs to Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
The FTC required AmeriGas L.P. and Energy Transfer Partners L.P. (ETP), two of the nation's largest propane distributors, to amend AmeriGas's proposed acquisition of ETP's Heritage Propane business as part of a settlement with the FTC. The settlement resolves FTC charges that the deal, as originally proposed, would have reduced competition and raised prices in the market for propane exchange cylinders that consumers use to fuel barbeque grills and patio heaters. The FTC's settlement requires AmeriGas to exclude ETP's cylinder exchange business, Heritage Propane Express, from the sale.
The Commission required Cardinal Health, Inc. to reconstitute and sell nuclear pharmacies in Las Vegas, Nevada; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas under a settlement order resolving the agency’s charges that Cardinal’s purchase of nuclear pharmacies from Biotech reduced competition for low-energy radiopharmaceuticals in the three cities.
The FTC required specialty metals manufacturer Carpenter Technology Corporation to sell assets involved in producing two metal alloys used in the aerospace industry, under a settlement resolving charges that Carpenter's proposed $410 million acquisition of Latrobe Specialty Metals, Inc. would harm competition in the U.S. markets for these alloys.The FTC's complaint alleges that the deal – a merger to monopoly – likely would lead to higher prices for consumers of the two alloys. The order requires Carpenter to divest assets necessary for manufacturing the two alloys – MP159 and Aerospace MP35N – to another metals manufacturer, Eramet S.A.
The Commission challenged Dow Chemical’s $18.8 billion proposed acquisition of Rohm & Haas Company as anticompetitive in the markets for various acrylics and other industrial chemicals used to make coated paper products, paints, and adhesives. According to the Commission’s complaint, the product markets in question include acrylic monomers, used in goods ranging from hygiene products to paints and industrial coatings, hollow sphere particles, used in paper products, and acrylic latex polymers, used in traffic paints. Given the high concentration in each of the product markets, the proposed acquisition would have represented a merger to monopoly. To remedy its anticompetitive concerns, the Commission required Dow to divest assets to Hager Pacific Acquisitions LLC.
The FTC reached a settlement with Healthcare Technology Holdings, Inc., the parent company of market research firm IMS Health Inc., according to which IMS has agreed to sell two product lines of rival SDI Health LLC, as a condition of allowing it to proceed with its acquisition of SDI. The proposed settlement order requires the sale of SDI's promotional audit and medical audit businesses to an FTC-approved buyer to resolve the agency's charges that IMS's acquisition of SDI, as originally proposed, is anticompetitive and likely would increase prices for market research products in the health care industry. On1/10/2012, the FTC approved a modified final order settling the charges.
The FTC filed separate complaints against the three largest U.S. suppliers of ductile iron pipe fittings, which are used in municipal water systems around the United States. The FTC charged that the three companies, McWane, Inc., Star Pipe Products, Ltd., and Sigma Corporation, illegally conspired to set and maintain prices for pipe fittings, and that McWane illegally maintained its monopoly power in the market for U.S.-made pipe fittings by implementing an exclusive dealing policy. Sigma settled the FTC's charges prior to litigation (final order dated Feb. 27, 2012); Star settled soon after (final order dated May 8, 2012). The complaint against McWane was heard before an administrative law judge and later appealed to the Commission; see Docket No. 9351.
On 12/12/2011, the FTC approved orders requiring Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. to divest three drugs used to treat different skin ailments, as conditions of acquiring Ortho Dermatologics, Inc. from Johnson & Johnson, and Dermik Laboratories, Inc. from Sanofi. Under the settlements, Valeant will sell the manufacturing and marketing rights to drug products that treat acne and actinic keratosis, a pre-cancerous skin lesion, to Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. Valeant also will sell the marketing rights to a drug that treats fine line wrinkles to Spear Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Both settlements preserve competition and prevent higher prices that likely would have resulted from the acquisitions. (also see 1110216).
On 12/12/2011, the FTC approved orders requiring Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. to divest three drugs used to treat different skin ailments, as conditions of acquiring Ortho Dermatologics, Inc. from Johnson & Johnson, and Dermik Laboratories, Inc. from Sanofi. Under the settlements, Valeant will sell the manufacturing and marketing rights to drug products that treat acne and actinic keratosis, a pre-cancerous skin lesion, to Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. Valeant also will sell the marketing rights to a drug that treats fine line wrinkles to Spear Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Both settlements preserve competition and prevent higher prices that likely would have resulted from the acquisitions. (also see 1110215).
The Commission required laboratory testing companies Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings and Orchid Cellmark Inc. to divest a portion of Orchid's paternity testing business, to resolve the FTC complaint alleging that LabCorp's $85.4 million acquisition of Orchid would have an anticompetitive impact in the market for paternity testing services used by government agencies. Under the proposed settlement order, the portion of Orchid's U.S. paternity testing business that is focused on sales to government agencies, and related assets, will be sold to another testing company, DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC). On 2/1/2012, the FTC approved a final order.
The FTC required Universal Health Services, Inc., one of the nation’s largest hospital management companies, to sell 15 psychiatric facilities as a condition of its $3.1 billion acquisition of Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. As originally proposed the acquisition would have reduced competition in the provision of acute inpatient psychiatric services in three local markets: Delaware, Puerto Rico, and metropolitan Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pool Corporation, the largest distributor of swimming pool products in the United States, agreed to stop anticompetitive tactics that it allegedly used to keep out new competitors in local markets around the nation, as part of a settlement that resolves charges that the conduct maintained PoolCorp's monopoly over distribution of pool products. PoolCorp distributes products used in the construction, renovation, repair, service, and maintenance of residential and commercial swimming pools. The FTC charged that for the past eight years, PoolCorp, based in Covington, Louisiana, threatened not to sell the pool products of any manufacturer who sold products to a new distributor, effectively thwarting entry by new competitors by blocking them from buying pool products directly from manufacturers. The strategy significantly raised the costs incurred by its rivals, thereby lowering sales, increasing prices, and reducing the number of choices available to consumers, the agency alleged.
The Commission reached settlement agreement with Tops Markets LLC that protects consumers from the potential anticompetitive effects of Tops’ acquisition of the bankrupt Penn Traffic Company supermarket chain. To settle FTC charges that the acquisition was anticompetitive in several areas of New York and Pennsylvania, Tops agreed to sell seven Penn Traffic supermarkets to FTC-approved buyers in five grocery markets: Bath, Cortland, Ithaca, and Lockport, New York, as well as Sayre, Pennsylvania.
BASF has settled Commission charges that its proposed $5.1 billion acquisition of rival chemical manufacturer Ciba Holding Inc. would be anticompetitive and violate federal law by reducing competition in the worldwide markets for two high performance pigments. Under the terms of a consent order allowing the transaction to proceed, the FTC requires BASF to sell all assets, including the intellectual property related to the two pigments, bismuth vanadate and indanthrone blue, to a Commission-approved buyer within six months.
A final consent order allows the merger of Phillips Petroleum and Conoco Inc. but requires certain divestitures and other relief to maintain competition in the gasoline refining market in specific areas of the United States. Among the assets to be divested are refineries, propane terminals, and natural gas gathering facilities. The FTC approved an application to reopen and modify its final order to change the license agreement that ConocoPhillips has with Holly Corporation, an independent oil refining company. The changes approved by the Commission allow ConocoPhillips and Holly to make the licensing of the "Phillips" and "Phillips 66" brands non-exclusive in two states for the last two years of the FTC-required agreement between them.
The Commission required dialysis services company DaVita, Inc. to sell 29 outpatient dialysis clinics around the United States, under a settlement that resolves FTC charges that DaVita’s proposed $689 million acquisition of rival CDSI I Holding Company, Inc., also known as DSI, would be anticompetitive. The settlement preserves competition in 22 geographic markets where the FTC alleges that consumers would be harmed by DaVita’s acquisition of DSI. The settlement requires DaVita to sell the clinics to Dialysis Newco, Inc., a corporation formed by venture capital firms Frazier Healthcare and New Enterprise Associates.
An association representing 900 physicians in the Amarillo, Texas, area agreed to a Commission order barring it from jointly negotiating the prices it charges insurance providers. The FTC alleged in a complaint filed with the order that the association, Southwest Health Alliances, Inc., d/b/a BSA Provider Network, has violated federal law since 2000 by fixing the prices its member doctors would charge insurers. The Commission's order requires the association to cease and desist.
The Commission required Irving Oil Terminals Inc. and Irving Oil Limited to relinquish the rights to terminal and pipeline assets in Maine that Irving acquired from ExxonMobil, to maintain competition in gasoline and distillates terminaling services in the South Portland and Bangor/Penobscot Bay areas. The proposed settlement resolves the FTC’s charges that the acquisition is anticompetitive and could result in higher gasoline and diesel prices for consumers.
Under the terms of the settlement, Simon Property Group, Inc. is required to divest property and modify tenant leases to preserve outlet center competition in parts of southwest Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, and Orlando, Florida, in the wake of Simon’s purchase of Prime Outlets Acquisition Company, LLC. In addition, Simon has agreed to remove radius restrictions for tenants with stores in its outlet malls serving the Chicago and Orlando markets.
The Commission required Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (Hikma) to divest two generic injectable pharmaceuticals – phenytoin and promethazine – as part of a settlement allowing it to acquire certain assets from Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Inc. (Baxter). Hikma proposes to acquire Baxter’s entire generic injectable pharmaceutical business for $111.5 million, including Baxter’s Cherry Hill, New Jersey, manufacturing facility and a warehouse and distribution center in Memphis, Tennessee. Phenytoin is an anti-convulsant drug used to control and prevent seizures during or after surgery and Promethazine is used to prevent some types of allergies or allergic reactions, to prevent or control motion sickness, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness, and to help patients go to sleep and control their pain or anxiety before or after surgery.