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Kenneth Field, Michael Knight, Bevin M.B. Newman, Apr 27, 2015
In an important decision, North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners vs. FTC, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that, where a state professional regulatory board is controlled by active market participants in the profession the board regulates, the board cannot claim “state action” antitrust immunity unless it is actively supervised by other state officials who are not active market participants. The opinion has broad implications for state professional boards hoping to avoid antitrust liability and the entities they regulate seeking either to challenge or to invoke their authority.
Having represented the North Carolina State Board in the Supreme Court, Jones Day is especially familiar with the issues and implications raised by the case. North Carolina Dental, along with Phoebe Putney, is the second time in three years that the Court has rejected a claim of state-action antitrust immunity.
