The FTC has been active in the consumer protection realm this week, issuing refunds and warning letters, releasing Do Not Call Registry statistics, and announcing a new workshop. The FTC also denied a petition to reopen a long-running consent order related to “stalkerware” apps. These stories and more after the jump.Continue Reading FTC Updates (December 8 – 12, 2025)
On November 17, 2025, (former) FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak left the FTC to become Utah’s interim U.S. attorney. Holyoak left the FTC the same day the appointment was announced.
As a result of Holyoak’s departure, the FTC is down to two commissioners: Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Commissioner Mark Meador. With the two Republican commissioners remaining, the vacancy is unlikely to lead to any material changes at the agency.Continue Reading FTC Down to Two Commissioners After (Former) Commissioner Holyoak Leaves for U.S. Attorney Role
On July 14, 2025, the FTC announced its enforcement action against telemedicine company NextMed over charges it used misleading prices, fake reviews and deceptive weight-loss claims to sell GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. The FTC has now settled its charges that NextMed used deceptive practices to lure consumers into buying their weight-loss membership programs that had hidden terms and conditions. With the rise of both authentic and counterfeit GLP-1s throughout the nation and the proliferation of the availability of GLP-1s from telemedicine/telehealth companies, online pharmacies and medspas, this announcement is a sign that the federal government will actively monitor these entities to ensure consumers are getting genuine, authentic GLP-1s, that consumers are making informed decisions about weight-loss drugs, and that consumers are not being deceived and duped in the frenzy over GLP-1s.Continue Reading FTC Uses Its Consumer Protection Powers to Regulate Sellers of GLP-1s
Merger consent orders have returned to the FTC, with the agency’s latest decision highlighting how the current leadership is evaluating divestiture proposals. The FTC has approved a proposed consent agreement in Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s (ACT) acquisition of retail fuel outlets from Giant Eagle, Inc. that paired standard retail divestitures with a “prior notice” requirement that
Scams are the theme of the week at the FTC. The agency entered into two proposed stipulations to settle allegations about deceptive schemes targeting consumers, and issued over $2 million in refunds in relation to an alleged scam dating back to the 2008 financial crisis. These stories and more after the jump.Continue Reading FTC Updates (June 16 – 20, 2025)
“Right to Repair” laws are regulations that generally require manufacturers to give consumers and independent repair providers access to tools, parts, and information to repair certain consumer products and other equipment on fair and reasonable terms. Recently, six states—California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, and Oregon—have implemented their own comprehensive right to repair regulations. Click
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a sweeping new rule that would ban employers from including non-compete terms in employment agreements with virtually all of their workers – from janitors to senior executives. Describing such agreements as an “exploitative practice that suppresses wages, hampers innovation, and blocks entrepreneurs from starting new businesses,” the FTC’s rule deems non-compete agreements to be an “unfair method of competition” under Section 5 of the FTC Act, without regard for any business justifications or reasonableness. Potential rulemaking against non-compete clauses has been percolating for some time and has support from the White House, but the breadth of the proposed rule is nonetheless surprising.
The FTC’s push for this rule under its Section 5 authority surely will spark legal—including constitutional—challenges that could delay implementation of any final rule for months, if not years. Companies need not immediately start rescinding or avoiding reasonably tailored non-compete agreements with employees, but should take note that the FTC is not likely to sit on the sidelines and wait for a final rule to come into effect before taking further action against some employers based on the scope of their non-compete agreements. The proposed rulemaking and the FTC’s recent enforcement actions targeting specific companies’ use of non-compete provisions as violations of Section 5 reflect the FTC’s and DOJ’s aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement in the labor markets – including the FTC’s desire to bring enforcement actions in this area even before any final rule goes into effect. Continue Reading FTC Proposes Rule to Categorically Ban Non-Compete Agreements