Citizens, National Health Federation File Friends-of-the-Court Brief Against FTC

Blind lady justice holding scales and a sword

Last week, Citizens for Health (CFH) and the National Health Federation (NHF) jointly filed an Amici Curiae brief in United States v. Xlear, a pending Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement action in the United States District Court for the Central Division of Utah. The amici brief  filing, also called a Friends-of-the-Court brief, supports a motion by Xlear, Inc. (the corporate Defendant) asking the Court to dismiss the complaint, citing the Supreme Court of the United States’ recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.

FTC Overreach Prompts Amici Filing

In 2021, the FTC sued Xlear, alleging the Defendant violated the FTC Act by claiming use of Xlear’s saline nasal sprays as an effective way to prevent and treat COVID-19 without adequate substantiation in the form of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

However, substantiation is not referenced, let alone required, in the FTC Act. Under the Supreme Court’s recent Loper decision, agencies like the FTC are limited to implementing the laws as written by Congress and cannot establish extra requirements without Congressional authority. The groups believe the FTC Act as written lacks such authority. In short, the federal agency did not have statutory authority to sue Xlear for failure to conduct clinical trials.

The FTC’s actions here disempower and hurt American consumers.

“NHF and Citizens for Health filed our amici brief to ensure the District Court was aware of the perspective of American consumers as it considers this vital question – whether RCTs are necessary to show that health claims meet the legal standard that they be truthful and not misleading,” said Betsy Lehrfeld, Secretary and Treasurer of CFH, and Scott Tips, President and Counsel for NHF in a joint statement.

The National Health Federation is a California non-profit 501(c)(4) whose mission is to protect the health rights and freedom of individuals and healthcare practitioners; educate about health and health freedom; and represent its members in lawmaking, rulemaking, and policy decisions.

“The FTC is supposed to be a consumer watchdog. However, the FTC’s actions here disempower and hurt American consumers. The FTC’s requirement for RCTs limits consumer information and choice, stifles innovation, and drives up prices for consumers, making products less available to low-income Americans.

“By preventing truthful and not misleading information about less expensive, effective, natural, non-pharmaceutical options from reaching consumers, it compels them to rely on costly ‘Big Pharma’ products,” said Lehrfeld and Tips. “The Court needs to know what is at stake in this case for American healthcare consumers.”

###

Additional Reading:

Access: Amici Brief

Read: Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo

Related Posts

Leave a comment

39 − = 33