Foley & Lardner LLP partner Benjamin Dryden is quoted in the STAT News article, “What the new health counsels at FTC, DOJ, and HHS might do,” commenting on the addition of three new positions at federal government agencies as part of the Biden Administration’s announced efforts to lower health care and prescription drug costs.
The Biden Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will appoint a Chief Competition Officer and the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will name Counsels for Health Care to lead these efforts.
“The indications are that the FTC’s new Counsel for Health Care will primarily serve in a policymaking role, helping to set the FTC’s law-enforcement agenda in the health care sector,” explained Dryden, who is vice-chair of Foley’s Antitrust & Competition Practice. “For example, the Counsel will likely serve to identify trends or practices in the healthcare sector that may warrant guidance, policy statements, investigation, or enforcement.”
“By comparison, based on the wording of the press release, the Counsel for Health Care at the DOJ may have a greater role in day-to-day investigation and enforcement matters than their counterpart at the FTC will have,” he added.
