The FTC has made news recently with its recent enforcement activity regarding companies’ alleged disclosures of consumer health data, as detailed in our recent post FTC to Advertisers: We’re tracking Your Use of Health information, and as evidenced by the FTC’s tentative agenda for its next open meeting later this month on potential rulemaking regarding amending the Health Data Breach Notification Rule (a point which is curious given its prior policy statement already attempting to expand its scope, which we discussed here).
Aside from regulators, however, Plaintiffs’ lawyers also are paying attention to the FTC’s activity of law, and, on a parallel track, has initiated a wave of consumer class actions regarding the use of tracking pixels and consumers’ “health information” have followed. We anticipate this wave will only increase in response to Washington’s My Health, My Data Act once in effect.
Continue Reading The FTC is Not the Only One Tracking Your Use of Health Information
Those of us who spend our days at the intersection of law and advertising of health products generally accept that the prescription drug world is a universe unto itself, overseen by the FDA pursuant to the Prescription Drug Marketing Act. As prescription drug companies have increased their direct-to-consumer outreach through social media, native advertising, and health information platforms, questions have arisen as to the role that the NAD might play in regulating these advertisements. For those who are unfamiliar, the NAD is the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau. It is an industry self-regulatory body that is charged with hearing and rendering decisions in advertising disputes, typically among competitors. It is commonly used amongst advertisers of consumer-directed products and services. It is not commonly used amongst prescription drug advertisers and, until recently, many likely assumed that NAD did not have jurisdiction to hear prescription drug advertising challenges.