Articles Posted in Civil Non-Merger Highlights

On March 29th, the Federal Trade Commission announced its intention to conduct a study of the use, and likely short- and long-term competitive effects, of authorized generics in the prescription drug marketplace. An authorized generic is chemically identical to a particular brand-name drug, but the brand-name manufacturer authorizes it to be marketed in a generic…

The staff of the FTC stated on March 18 in an advisory opinion letter that the proposed plan by a physician-hospital organization that would involve collective bargaining with insurers over doctor fees likely would violate federal antitrust laws. The staff concluded that the price and other competitive restraints proposed by the network were not reasonably…

On March 14th, the FTC announced that Valassis Communications, Inc., a leading producer of free-standing newspaper inserts (“FSIs”) in the United States, has settled charges that it attempted to collude with News America Marketing, its only FSI rival, to eliminate competition between the two companies. Under the consent order settling the FTC’s complaint, Valassis is…