The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection issued a number of press releases regarding advertising and marketing practices in the fashion, finance, and the dietary supplement industries. The agency finalized a settlement over false and suppressed endorsement reviews. It also obtained injunctions over allegations ranging from false claims of removing negative information from credit reports to false health claims related to dissolvable film strips. The Commission also proactively issued warning letters to companies allegedly selling and advertising COVID-19 treatments.
Continue Reading FTC Updates (March 21-25, 2022)

The FTC had a busy week in the consumer protection realm. The agency settled with several companies over allegations ranging from shoddy data security to a full-on credit card laundering scam. Chair Khan and DOJ Assistant AG Kanter have remained busy in their efforts to gather information on merger guidelines, and, in case there wasn’t enough on the FTC’s plate, a U.S. Senator has asked the agency to dig up evidence of wrongdoing in the gas and oil markets. More on all of this after the jump.
Continue Reading FTC Updates (March 14-18, 2022)

You may have seen the commercial on late night television. A glowing image of a human brain appears (along with a disclosure stating “dramatization”), with flashing lights pulsing through a crisscrossed mesh, depicting nerves. The voiceover intones, “Your brain is an amazing thing. But as you get older, it begins to change, causing a lack of sharpness or even trouble with recall.” So far, so good. Who, of a certain age, hasn’t experienced these symptoms?

The voiceover continues: “Thankfully, the breakthrough in Prevagen helps your brain and actually improves memory.” The flashing lights grow stronger and zoom more quickly across the neural net. “The secret is an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish. In clinical trials, Prevagen has been shown to improve short term memory. Prevagen, the name to remember.”

A screen shot of the key frame, showing a graph of what appears to be recall improvement over time appears, along with a disclosure that states that “in a computer assessed, double-blinded, placebo controlled study, Prevagen improved recall tasks in subjects.”

© Prevagen

Continue Reading Quincy Biosciences: What the decision means for advertising of health claims, and what it means to the FTC