Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

The Federal Trade Commission sued Lights of America Inc. and related defendants for violating federal law by misrepresenting the light output and life expectancy of their LED bulbs, and falsely comparing the brightness of their LED bulbs with that of other light bulbs. A federal court ordered the defendants to pay $21 million to the FTC to provide refunds and banned the defendants from misrepresenting material facts about lighting products. Millions of people bought these LED bulbs at Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, hardware stores, grocery stores, and on Amazon.com. The FTC has already returned more than $12 million to people who bought these light bulbs. The claims process is still open.

In July 2019, the FTC sent refunds totaling more than $708,000 to consumers and businesses that had been tricked into paying for unordered light bulbs and cleaning supplies. The Commission’s February 2016 complaint alleged the Lighting X-Change defendants’ telemarketers failed to disclose to consumers that they were making a sales call, pretended they had a previous business relationship with the recipients, and falsely claimed that they wanted to send a free sample or catalog. Instead, they sent unordered light bulbs and cleaning supplies without disclosing the price up-front, and billed the recipients much more than market price for the products. A July 2017 order settling the charges banned the defendants from the illegal shipping and billing practices, and imposed a financial penalty that was used to provide the consumer refunds.

In October 2014, the FTC charged Gerber Products Co. with deceptively advertising that feeding its Good Start Gentle formula to infants with a family history of allergies prevents or reduces the risk that they will develop allergies. The FTC also alleged that Gerber falsely advertised Good Start Gentle’s health claims as FDA-approved. The stipulated court order announced today, which the court has entered as final, settles the FTC’s charges and prohibits Gerber from similar conduct in the future.

The FTC issued an administrative complaint and authorized a federal court action to block Sanford Health's proposed acquisition of Mid Dakota Clinic, alleging that the deal would vioated antitrust law by significantly reducing competition for adult primary care physician services, pediatric services, obstetrics and gynecology services, and general surgery physician services in the greater Bismarck and Mandan metropolitan area. The FTC, jointly with the Office of the Attorney General of North Dakota, filed a complaint in federal district court seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the deal and maintain the status quo pending an administrative trial on the merits. According to the complaint, Sanford and Mid Dakota are each other's closest rivals in the four-county Bismarck-Mandan region of North Dakota, and the merger would create a group of physicians with at least 75 to 85 percent share in the provision of adult primary care physician services, pediatric services, obstetrics and gynecology services. On July 9, 2019, after Sanford abandoned its acquisition of Mid Dakota Clinic, the Commission announced that it voted 5-0 to dismiss the case.