Word: ftc
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...them rise as a means of forcing conservation and encouraging new development. But even that came a cropper last week. A House Commerce subcommittee heard staff members of the Federal Trade Commission charge that the gas industry deliberately understated reserves in order to win high prices. For example, the FTC officials contended, in 1971 and 1972 Union Oil for internal purposes assessed gas reserves in an area off the Louisiana shore at 7.2 trillion cu. ft.; at the same time, the American Gas Association was officially estimating reserves in the same region at exactly half -3.6 trillion cu. ft. Justified...
...away the Fords of Hertz, the Plymouths of Avis or the Chevies of National Car Rental. Last week the Federal Trade Commission charged that the Big Three of the auto-rental business had combined to make sure that consumers got no other choice. Hertz, Avis and National, said the FTC, have been conspiring since 1968 to freeze competitors out of airport trade, which constitutes 70% of the $700 million-a-year business, and to keep car-rental prices artificially high...
...FTC Chairman Lewis Engman, though, "it is a curious set of values that says that the consumer may be given full information about discretionary purchases such as deodorants and mouthwash but cannot be given information that will help him save money on . . . drugs that a doctor has prescribed as essential to his good health." The FTC's proposed rules would override all state laws forbidding drug-price ads and make it a crime punishable by a $10,000 fine for any person or association to hinder disclosure of drug prices...
...study found that pharmacies in the San Francisco area charged 28 different prices, ranging from $2.50 to $11.75, for 100 tablets of Raudixin, a drug that reduces high blood pressure. Druggists contend that the stores charging the higher prices provide extra services like free delivery and charge accounts. FTC officials retort persuasively that customers should know the charges in advance so that they can decide for themselves whether the service is worth the price...
...eventual FTC ruling on drug-price ads may presage a probe into the agreements by medical and bar associations that set fees charged by doctors and lawyers. Engman, who has vigorously pushed antitrust actions in his two years at the FTC, has talked before about "conspiracies of silence" concerning prices in other professions. Last week he said that the fact that druggists' antiadvertising agreements resemble understandings among other groups does not excuse the pharmacists but "may be a reason to take a hard look at doctors and lawyers...