Federal Consumer Protection News and Other Items of Interest: May 2021
Federal Consumer Protection News President Biden issued an Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity following the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline which led to the pipeline shutting down and declarations of emergency and gasoline supply shortages in some states. The order declared that “the prevention, detection, assessment, and remediation of cyber incidents is a top…
Attorney General Consumer Protection News: May 2021
Multistate Actions Led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III, and Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan, a bipartisan coalition of 44 attorneys general urged Facebook to abandon its launch of Instagram Kids, a social media platform for children under the age of 13. The…
Consumer Chief of the Month: Brandon Garod, New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office
As I have only been New Hampshire’s Consumer Chief for a little over two years, I have not yet had the opportunity to meet many of you. I am hoping that as life starts to return to normal, our ability to congregate and learn from shared experiences will return as well, and I will be…
Using UDAP in an Action Against the Manufacturers of the Antiplatelet Medication Plavix
In 2014, the State of Hawai‘i sued the manufacturers of the antiplatelet medication Plavix in state court for violating Hawaii’s unfair or deceptive trade practices act, chapter 480, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (“UDAP”). After a four-week, virtual, non-jury trial concluded in November 2020, the Hawai‘i trial court entered judgment awarding more than $834 million in civil…
Risk-Based Pricing and the Role of State Attorneys General in Enforcement
Risk-based pricing is a practice in which a business charges consumers who are a greater credit risk more money for the same goods or services provided to other consumers who are less risky.1 Risk-based pricing is used in many industries, including insurance and banking, but the focus of this article is its use in consumer…
Attorneys General Urge Congressional Support for Fraud and Scam Reduction Act
Washington, D.C. — The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), on behalf of a bipartisan coalition of 47 state and territory attorneys general, is urging Congress to support the Fraud and Scam Reduction Act (H.R. 1215). The legislation, comprised of the Stop Senior Scam Act and Seniors Fraud Prevention Act of 2021, will assist stakeholders…
Federal Consumer Protection News and Other Items of Interest: April 2021
The US Supreme Court ruled against the FTC in AMG Capital Management LLC v. FTC, holding that Section 13(b) of the FTC Act does not permit the FTC to seek and does not allow courts to award “equitable monetary relief such as restitution or disgorgement.” FTC Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter issued a statement criticizing…
Attorney General Consumer Protection News: April 2021
Multistate Actions Led by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, and Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III, a bipartisan coalition of 45 attorneys general called on Twitter, eBay, and Shopify and online mobile market place OfferUp to act immediately to prevent people from selling fraudulent CDC vaccination cards on…
Consumer Chief of the Month: Laura E. McFarlane, Assistant Attorney General, Deputy Director, Public Protection Unit, Wisconsin Department of Justice
I am honored to be featured as the NAGTRI Center for Consumer Protection’s Chief of the Month. I was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. While I realize now how lucky I was to be raised here, at the time I graduated from high school, I was very much ready to leave Wisconsin. After graduating…
