Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

The FTC filed a lawsuit 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 list price of insulin drugs.

On February 4, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission secured a landmark settlement with Express Scripts, Inc., and its affiliated entities (collectively “ESI”). The settlement requires ESI to adopt fundamental changes to its business practices that increase transparency, are expected to drive down patients’ out-of-pocket costs for drugs like insulin by up to $7 billion over 10 years, bring millions of dollars in new revenue to community pharmacies each year, and advance the Trump Administration’s key healthcare priorities.

The Federal Trade Commission has stopped a scheme that allegedly bilked millions of dollars out of consumers burdened with student loan debt by pretending to be affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education in violation of the FTC’s Impersonation Rule, collecting illegal advance fees, and making other deceptive claims.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada entered a temporary restraining order on November 22, 2024 and a preliminary injunction against corporate defendant Superior Servicing on December 6, 2024.  

The Federal Trade Commission filed an amended complaint adding corporate defendants Sunrise Solutions USA LLC, Alumni Advantage LLC, Student Processing Center Group LLC, SPCTWO LLC, Accredit LLC and individual defendants Eric Caldwell and David Hernandez. 

In September 2025, the FTC announced that Caldwell and Hernandez will be permanently banned from the debt relief industry and will be required to turn over their assets to resolve FTC charges that they helped operate an illegal student loan debt-relief operation. Additionally, Caldwell will be banned from the telemarketing industry, and Hernandez will be prohibited from violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

Litigation continues against Merdjanian and the corporate defendants.

The FTC will require Cox Media Group, MindSift, and 1010 Digital Works to pay a total of $930,000 to settle allegations they deceived customers by falsely claiming to offer an AI-powered service that could target localized ads based on conversations captured from consumers’ smart devices and that consumers had opted into such targeting

The Federal Trade Commission will require automotive services company Valvoline Inc. and private equity firm Greenbriar Equity Fund V., L.P. (Greenbriar) to divest 45 quick-lube oil change shops to resolve antitrust concerns surrounding their $625 million deal. Main Street Auto, LLC will acquire the divested outlets from Greenbriar under the terms of the FTC’s proposed divestiture order.

The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against Financial Education Services and its owners, Parimal Naik, Michael Toloff, Christopher Toloff and Gerald Thompson, as well as a number of related companies, for scamming consumers out of more than $213 million.

In response to a complaint filed by the FTC, a federal court has temporarily shut down the sprawling bogus credit repair scheme. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the company preys on consumers with low credit scores by luring them in with the false promise of an easy fix and then recruiting them to join a pyramid scheme selling the same worthless credit repair services to others. 

According to the FTC’s complaint, Michigan-based Financial Education Services, also doing business as United Wealth Services, has operated its scheme since at least 2015. The company claims to offer consumers the ability to remove negative information from credit reports and increase credit scores by hundreds of points, charging as much as $89 per month for their services. Their techniques, according to the complaint, are rarely effective and in many instances harm consumer’s credit scores.

In March 2026, the FTC sent more than $10.9 million to consumers harmed by the credit repair pyramid scheme.

The Federal Trade Commission ordered building services contractor Adamas Amenity Services LLC (Adamas) and its affiliated businesses to cease their enforcement of no-hire agreements.

Adamas used anticompetitive no-hire agreements that restrict building owners and management companies across New Jersey and New York City from directly hiring workers employed by Adamas without a significant penalty, according to the FTC’s complaint. Adamas is required to immediately cease enforcing all existing no-hire agreements under a proposed FTC order. On February 12, 2026, the FTC finalized the consent order with Adamas and its affiliated businesses. 

In September 2024, the FTC announced that Ryan Cohen, managing partner of RC Ventures, LLC, and Chairman and CEO of GameStop Corp., will pay a $985,320 civil penalty to settle charges that his acquisition of Wells Fargo & Company shares violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

The Federal Trade Commission took action to protect Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families by requiring Sevita Health (Sevita) to divest more than 100 healthcare facilities to resolve antitrust concerns surrounding its proposed $835 million acquisition of BrightSpring Health Services, Inc.’s (BrightSpring) community living business.

Under the FTC’s proposed consent order, Sevita will be required to divest 128 intermediate care facilities (ICFs), which provide IDD services, and other assets such as day-training programs. The divested facilities—which are in Indiana, Louisiana, and Texas—will be acquired by Dungarvin Group, Inc. (Dungarvin), an experienced and well-regarded operator of ICFs.

The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $222,000 in refunds to consumers harmed by a deceptive mortgage relief operation known as Lanier Law. The scheme collected thousands of dollars in upfront fees from homeowners by promising to lower their monthly payments but then failed to deliver. As a result of a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission and the State of Florida, a federal court has ordered so-called “trucking automation” company RivX to cease its operations over allegations the firm has scammed consumers out of millions of dollars with deceptive promises of trucking industry investment opportunities.

The complaint filed by the FTC and the Florida Office of Attorney General alleges that RivX, along with its owner Antonio Rivodo and company executive Noah Wooten, have used deceptive claims of guaranteed income to entice consumers to pay $75,000 dollars or more to buy trucks that they often never received. 

In August 2024, the FTC and the Florida Office of Attorney General alleged that RivX, along with its owner Antonio Rivodo and company executive Noah Wooten, have used deceptive claims of guaranteed income to entice consumers to pay $75,000 dollars or more to buy trucks that they often never received. The scheme collected thousands of dollars in upfront fees from homeowners by promising to lower their monthly payments but then failed to deliver. A federal court has ordered so-called “trucking automation” company RivX to cease its operations In January 2026, the FTC announced two court orders resolving the complaint against all defendants in the case

The Federal Trade Commission issued an administrative complaint to block medical device supplier Edwards Lifesciences Corp.’s (Edwards) proposed acquisition of JenaValve Technology, Inc. (JenaValve) due to concerns that the acquisition would limit patient access to lifesaving medical devices used to treat a potentially fatal heart condition. On January 9, 2026, after a six-day trial, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily prevent Edwards from acquiring JenaValve.

In August 2025, the FTC sued the operators of LA Fitness and other gyms over allegations they make it exceedingly difficult for consumers to cancel their gym memberships and related services that continued indefinitely unless cancelled. The agency is seeking a court order prohibiting the allegedly unfair conduct and money back for consumers harmed by the difficulty in cancelling memberships.

In July 2020, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in federal court against the California-based marketers and promoters of bogus treatments for serious medical conditions.  The defendants are two corporations headquartered in Porterville, California, and two of their executives: Huu Tieu, president and CEO of both companies; and Stephen Meis, Medical Director and board member of Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical.  The complaint alleged that defendants have promoted and sold a variety of products through "plans of care" ranging in price from $23,000 to $200,000, which falsely claim to treat or cure COVID-19, cancer, Parkinson's disease, etc. On June 14, 2021, the FTC announced a proposed order barring the defendants from making bogus health claims. In January 2024, the FTC announced the process defrauded consumers can use to seek refunds. In February 2026, the FTC announced it was sending refund checks to eligible consumers, as well as an online process for eligible consumers who have not yet submitted a claim to do so. 

The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Gateway Services and its subsidiary Gateway US Holdings, Inc., (collectively referred to as Gateway), which alleges that Gateway imposed noncompete agreements on almost all of its employees, which typically prohibited employees from working in the pet cremation service industry anywhere in the U.S. for one year after leaving Gateway.

Under a proposed FTC consent order, Gateway must, among other terms, immediately stop enforcing all existing noncompete agreements.

On November 25, 2025, the FTC finalized the consent order in this matter.

The Federal Trade Commission sued Zillow and Redfin over an unlawful agreement that eliminates Redfin as a competitor in the market for placing advertising of rental housing on internet listing services (ILSs)—the websites that millions of Americans use to find their next rental home. The complaint alleges that in February 2025, Zillow and Redfin entered into an illegal agreement to dismantle Redfin as a competitor in the ILS advertising market for multifamily rental properties.

Under a final order with the FTC, Seek Capital and its CEO Roy Ferman have been permanently banned from providing business financing, debt relief and credit repair services to settle allegations that the firm deceived entrepreneurs and small business owners seeking business funding.

CVS agreed to settle allegations that its acquisition of Revco would substantially reduce competition for the retail sale of pharmacy services to health insurance companies and other third-party payers in Virginia and in the Binghamton, New York metropolitan area. The consent order requires the divestiture of 114 Revco stores in Virginia and 6 pharmacy counters in Binghamton.

In March, 1998, CVS Corporation agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company violated a 1997 consent order and asset maintenance agreement it signed with the agency to settle charges stemming from CVS's 1997 acquisition of Revco D.S., Inc.