California Dental Assn. v. FTC, 526 U.S. 756, 7 (1999)

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762

CALIFORNIA DENTAL ASSN. v. FTC

Opinion of the Court

similarly recalcitrant are subject to censure, suspension, or expulsion from the CDA. 128 F. 3d, at 724.

The Commission brought a complaint against the CDA, alleging that it applied its guidelines so as to restrict truthful, nondeceptive advertising, and so violated § 5 of the FTC Act, 38 Stat. 717, 15 U. S. C. § 45.3 The complaint alleged that the CDA had unreasonably restricted two types of advertising: price advertising, particularly discounted fees, and advertising relating to the quality of dental services. Complaint ¶ 7. An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) held the Commission to have jurisdiction over the CDA, which, the ALJ noted, had itself "stated that a selection of its programs and services has a potential value to members of between $22,739 and $65,127," 121 F. T. C., at 207. He found that, although there had been no proof that the CDA exerted market power, no such proof was required to establish an antitrust violation under In re Mass. Bd. of Registration in Optometry, 110 F. T. C. 549 (1988), since the CDA had unreasonably prevented members and potential members from using truthful, nondeceptive advertising, all to the detriment of both dentists and consumers of dental services. He accordingly found a violation of § 5 of the FTC Act. 121 F. T. C., at 272-273.

The Commission adopted the factual findings of the ALJ except for his conclusion that the CDA lacked market power, with which the Commission disagreed. The Commission treated the CDA's restrictions on discount advertising as illegal per se. 128 F. 3d, at 725. In the alternative, the Commission held the price advertising (as well as the nonprice) restrictions to be violations of the Sherman and FTC Acts

3 The FTC Act's prohibition of unfair competition and deceptive acts or practices, 15 U. S. C. § 45(a)(1), overlaps the scope of § 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U. S. C. § 1, aimed at prohibiting restraint of trade, FTC v. Indiana Federation of Dentists, 476 U. S. 447, 454-455 (1986), and the Commission relied upon Sherman Act law in adjudicating this case, In re California Dental Assn., 121 F. T. C. 190, 292, n. 5 (1996).

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