FTC
The below is from FTC website
OUR MISSION
To prevent business practices that are anticompetitive or deceptive or unfair to consumers; to enhance informed consumer choice and public understanding of the competitive process; and to accomplish this without unduly burdening legitimate business activity.
OUR VISION
A U.S. economy characterized by vigorous competition among producers and consumer access to accurate information, yielding high-quality products at low prices and encouraging efficiency, innovation, and consumer choice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FTC Issues Antitrust Guidance For Medical, Dental Boards.
The ADA News (10/16) reported that on Oct. 15 the Federal Trade Commission issued new guidance “to assist state regulatory boards in avoiding conflicts where potential antitrust violations can occur.” The US Supreme Court decision in North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission prompted the FTC Staff Guidance on Active Supervision of State Regulatory Boards Controlled by Market Participants, the commission said, adding that the purpose of the new guidance is “to identify certain overarching legal principles governing when and how a state may provide active supervision for a regulatory board.” According to the article, the FTC guidance urges “each state’s regulatory board to consult with its Attorney General on how to best comply with antitrust laws.”
Modern Healthcare (10/15, Schencker, Subscription Publication) reported that in that Supreme Court case, the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners claimed it “wasn’t subject to federal antitrust laws because it was a state agency,” but the court ruled “it was illegal for the board, composed mostly of practicing dentists, to tell nondentists working in mall kiosks to stop offering teeth-whitening services.”