Regulations.gov

FTC, HHS Seek Public Comment on Generic Drug Shortages and Competition Amongst Powerful Middlemen

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 14, 2024

In the Request for Information (RFI), the FTC and HHS are seeking public comment regarding market concentration among large health care GPOs and drug wholesalers, as well as information detailing their contracting practices.

Key Points: 
  • In the Request for Information (RFI), the FTC and HHS are seeking public comment regarding market concentration among large health care GPOs and drug wholesalers, as well as information detailing their contracting practices.
  • The joint RFI is asking these questions to help uncover the root causes and potential solutions to drug shortages.
  • “Our inquiry requests information on the factors driving these shortages and scrutinizes the practices of opaque drug middlemen.
  • - Whether and to what extent concentration among GPOs and drug wholesalers has disincentivized suppliers from competing in generic drug markets.

FTC, HHS Seek Public Comment on Generic Drug Shortages and Competition Amongst Powerful Middlemen

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 14, 2024

In the Request for Information (RFI), the FTC and HHS are seeking public comment regarding market concentration among large health care GPOs and drug wholesalers, as well as information detailing their contracting practices.

Key Points: 
  • In the Request for Information (RFI), the FTC and HHS are seeking public comment regarding market concentration among large health care GPOs and drug wholesalers, as well as information detailing their contracting practices.
  • The joint RFI is asking these questions to help uncover the root causes and potential solutions to drug shortages.
  • “Our inquiry requests information on the factors driving these shortages and scrutinizes the practices of opaque drug middlemen.
  • - Whether and to what extent concentration among GPOs and drug wholesalers has disincentivized suppliers from competing in generic drug markets.

FTC Announces Rule Changes Designed to Increase Oversight Effectiveness Over Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, February 3, 2024

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a number of changes and additions to the rules governing its oversight of the Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority.

Key Points: 
  • The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a number of changes and additions to the rules governing its oversight of the Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority.
  • The revised rule would also require the Authority to submit a multi-year strategic plan to the FTC.
  • The changes streamline the process by which the Authority submits, and the FTC approves, the Authority’s annual budget.
  • Follow the FTC on social media, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

FTC Order Will Ban InMarket from Selling Precise Consumer Location Data

Retrieved on: 
Friday, January 19, 2024

Data aggregator InMarket Media will be prohibited from selling or licensing any precise location data to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company did not fully inform consumers and obtain their consent before collecting and using their location data for advertising and marketing.

Key Points: 
  • Data aggregator InMarket Media will be prohibited from selling or licensing any precise location data to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company did not fully inform consumers and obtain their consent before collecting and using their location data for advertising and marketing.
  • Under the proposed order, InMarket will also be prohibited from selling, licensing, transferring, or sharing any product or service that categorizes or targets consumers based on sensitive location data.
  • Today’s FTC action makes clear that firms do not have free license to monetize data tracking people’s precise location,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan.
  • In addition to the ban on selling or licensing precise location data—a first for the FTC—the proposed order also requires InMarket to take several steps to strengthen protections for consumers.

FTC Order Prohibits Data Broker X-Mode Social and Outlogic from Selling Sensitive Location Data

Retrieved on: 
Sunday, January 14, 2024

Data broker X-Mode Social and its successor Outlogic will be prohibited from sharing or selling any sensitive location data to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company sold precise location data that could be used to track people’s visits to sensitive locations such as medical and reproductive health clinics, places of religious worship and domestic abuse shelters.

Key Points: 
  • Data broker X-Mode Social and its successor Outlogic will be prohibited from sharing or selling any sensitive location data to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company sold precise location data that could be used to track people’s visits to sensitive locations such as medical and reproductive health clinics, places of religious worship and domestic abuse shelters.
  • Today’s action underscores the FTC’s strong commitment to restraining the collection, sale, or disclosure of consumer' sensitive location data.
  • This raw location data is not anonymized, and is capable of matching an individual consumer’s mobile device with the locations they visited.
  • X-Mode/Outlogic sells and licenses precise location data that it collects from third-party apps that incorporate its software development kit (SDK) into their apps, from its own mobile apps, and by purchasing location data from other data brokers and aggregators.
  • According to the FTC’s complaint, until May 2023, the company did not have any policies in place to remove sensitive locations from the raw location data it sold.

FTC Takes Action Against Global Tel*Link Corp. for Failing to Adequately Secure Data, Notify Consumers After Their Personal Data Was Breached

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 3, 2024

“The FTC is committed to protecting the rights to privacy and security of personal information for all consumers, including incarcerated consumers and their loved ones,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Key Points: 
  • “The FTC is committed to protecting the rights to privacy and security of personal information for all consumers, including incarcerated consumers and their loved ones,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
  • A forensic analysis showed that a handful of hackers accessed billions of bytes of the exposed data.
  • The company also repeatedly and falsely claimed in marketing materials following the incident that it had never suffered a data breach.
  • As part of the proposed order with the FTC, Global Tel*Link and two of its subsidiaries are prohibited from misrepresenting their data security practices and will be required, among other things, to: