Freedom of Competition and the Rhetoric of Federalism: North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC
31 Pages Posted: 10 Sep 2015
Date Written: September 9, 2015
Abstract
In the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners case, the FTC sued a state agency charged with regulating the dental profession after the agency used its licensing powers to bar non-dentists from offering teeth-whitening services, not to protect the general public, but to prevent competition against licensed dentists. The Board claimed immunity under the Parker antitrust immunity doctrine, but the Supreme Court rejected that defense. This article reviews the decision and explains why Parker immunity should be applied much more rarely than it currently is. It concludes with specific suggestions for narrowing this anomalous immunity doctrine.
Keywords: North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC, Parker immunity, antitrust, state action, active supervision, clear articulation
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