FTC Signals Intensified Enforcement Across the Health Care and Life Sciences Industries

On March 20, Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson issued a memorandum directing the FTC’s Bureaus of Competition, Consumer Protection, and Economics, Office of Policy Planning, and Office of Technology staff to form a new Healthcare Task Force. According to the accompanying press release, the Task Force will “engage in a coordinated, integrated approach to healthcare enforcement and advocacy to protect American patients, healthcare workers, and taxpayers.” The announcement follows significant recent enforcement activity and could portend increased aggressiveness of investigations.

Background and Purpose of the Task Force

Chairman Ferguson’s memorandum and the accompanying press release outline how the Task Force will strengthen enforcement to address consumer-protection and competition concerns in health care.

Ferguson frames the Task Force as a direct response to the challenges facing the American health care system and as an outgrowth of President Trump’s February 25, 2025, executive order calling for a “more competitive, innovative, affordable, and higher quality healthcare system.” He emphasizes that health care constitutes approximately 18% of the nation’s GDP, yet “too many Americans struggle to get the care they need at prices they can afford.” In line with the FTC’s “dual mandate” to protect consumers from both unfair or deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition, the Task Force will bring FTC teams together to share resources and integrate enforcement and advocacy efforts. 

Though the Task Force will initially bring together offices strictly within the FTC, co-chaired by representatives from the Bureaus of Competition and Consumer Protection, Ferguson notes that it seeks to expand membership to other agencies and law enforcement partners, highlighting the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in particular. This will provide a “coordinated, integrated approach to healthcare enforcement and advocacy to protect American patients, healthcare workers, and taxpayers.”

The Task Force will support the broader mission of the FTC to enforce the consumer protection and antitrust laws spelled out in the FTC Act, the Sherman Act, and the Clayton Act, which generally prohibit unfair or deceptive commercial practices and unfair methods of competition. The FTC has authority under these statutes to investigate and initiate enforcement actions.

Enforcement Track Record and Thematic Priorities

While the memo does not prescribe a specific enforcement agenda for the Task Force, it recounts a series of recent FTC actions in the health care space that, taken together, suggest several likely areas of continued and intensified focus.

PBM Transparency and Drug Pricing

The memo prominently highlights the FTC’s 2026 “landmark settlement” with Express Scripts, Inc., which resolved a lawsuit initiated by the FTC against Express Scripts (ESI). In its complaint, the FTC alleged that ESI used anticompetitive and unfair rebating practices to artificially inflate insulin drug prices. The settlement requires ESI to change its business practices and “increase transparency” for customers, which it expects will “drive down patients’ out-of-pocket costs for drugs like insulin by up to $7 billion over 10 years.” 

The settlement suggests that pharmacy benefit managers, plan sponsors, and pharmaceutical manufacturers should anticipate a continued focus by the FTC on pricing, rebate practices, and formulary design moving forward.

Anticompetitive Mergers and Consolidation

The memo also underscored two recent successful FTC challenges involving medical device deals. First, the FTC successfully halted Edwards Lifesciences’ proposed acquisition of JenaValve, both producers of transcatheter aortic valve replacement devices. The acquisition, the FTC contended, would have reduced competition in the US market for transcatheter aortic valve replacement devices. Second, it blocked the merger between Alcon and LENSAR, two major companies in the market for laser systems used in femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery, due to the combination’s potential anticompetitive effects. 

The Task Force is postured to prioritize competition and innovation in the medical and life sciences space. Both challenges by the FTC flag continued scrutiny for medical device manufacturers seeking out mergers and acquisitions.

Patent Practices and Generic Competition

Chairman Ferguson also highlighted the FTC’s successful challenge against Teva Pharmaceuticals for improperly listing device patents for asthma, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) drugs and epinephrine autoinjectors. The FTC argued that these devices were improperly listed in the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Orange Book because they did not list the active ingredient or formulation, as required by statute. Including these patents in the FDA’s Orange Book, the FTC contended, drove up prices and prevented patients from obtaining generic alternatives. Teva ultimately removed more than 200 patent listings from the FDA’s Orange Book.

This signals the FTC’s intent to continue using its enforcement tools to remove barriers to generic alternatives and underscores its goal to make prescription drugs more affordable.

Deceptive Health Care Marketing and Consumer Protection

On the consumer protection side, the memo details a settlement of $145 million with two insurance technology companies to resolve allegations that they deceived and misled consumers into purchasing insurance plans that did not provide the promised health care coverage; substance-abuse providers that used telemarketing schemes to funnel patients to their facilities by impersonating other substance abuse providers; telehealth companies deploying deceptive weight-loss claims and fake reviews; and sellers of products marketed with unsupported health claims, including claims to treat or cure COVID-19, cancer, and Parkinson’s disease. 

Any entity marketing health-related products or services should expect continued enforcement attention to claims substantiation, advertising disclosures, endorsements, and practices targeting vulnerable consumers.

Key Takeaways for Health Care and Life Sciences Companies

The creation of the Task Force reflects a strategic reorganization of the FTC’s existing resources and expertise to pursue enforcement more efficiently and aggressively. Companies across the health care and life sciences sectors should consider the following:

• Anticipate Coordinated, Cross-Functional Enforcement: The Task Force’s structure — spanning competition, consumer protection, economics, policy planning, and technology — means that insights from one type of investigation may now more readily inform a competition investigation, and vice versa. Companies should evaluate their exposure across both the FTC’s competition and consumer protection mandates. 

• Prepare for a Multiagency Enforcement Environment: The Task Force’s directive to partner with the DOJ and HHS means that enforcement could increasingly involve parallel or coordinated investigations by multiple federal agencies. Companies should ensure their compliance, legal, and government affairs teams are prepared to navigate overlapping regulatory inquiries. 

• Review Pricing and Transparency Practices: Manufacturers and intermediaries should closely evaluate rebate structures, formulary design, and pricing practices in light of the FTC’s stated focus on transparency and affordability. 

• Audit Marketing and Advertising Compliance: The breadth of the consumer protection actions cited in the memo demonstrates the FTC’s willingness to pursue enforcement across a wide range of health care marketing practices. Companies should review their advertising, claims substantiation, and disclosure practices to ensure compliance. 

• Monitor for Emerging Enforcement Priorities: The Task Force’s mandate to conduct ongoing horizon-scanning and identify new priority areas for enforcement and advocacy means that the FTC’s focus may expand into areas not yet explicitly identified. Companies should monitor FTC guidance, amicus filings, and public statements for signals of emerging enforcement priorities. 

ArentFox Schiff’s Antitrust, Health Care, Life Sciences, and Government Enforcement and White Collar attorneys regularly advise companies on compliance strategies and responses to federal and state investigations.