Dental Board case before U.S. Supreme Court has implications beyond teeth whitening

Attorney Jay Levine was quoted in an Oct. 29 article for HealthLeaders Media that explored a case before the U.S. Supreme Court where the justices are being asked to decide if a state regulatory board is exempt from federal antitrust laws (under the state action doctrine) if its members are "market participants" elected by other market participants. The case involves an eight-member North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners, which includes six dentists elected by other dentists, that had been the subject of a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission in 2010 for violations of the FTC Act after the board banned non-dentists operating in mall kiosks from performing discount teeth-whitening procedures.

"If the FTC wins and this board is considered a private actor and you'll always need state supervision for such boards, then obviously a lot of regulatory boards that are made up of practitioners of that industry, doctors, lawyers, etc., will need to have active supervision" Levine said in the article.