FTC Releases Policy Paper on APRNs as U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Major FTC Case

On March 7, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a new policy paper titled “Policy Perspectives: Competition and the Regulation of Advanced Practice Nurses” (APRN).  This primary care focused paper frequently references the 2011 IOM Future of Nursing Report.  Encouraging lawmakers to exercise caution when considering scope of practice matters, the paper reviews the background of APRNs and scope of practice matters; as well as competition advocacy comments by FTC staff.

FTC involvement in state level legislative and regulatory activity is a growing concern for the ASA. In correspondence and a face-to-face meeting, ASA had previously expressed concern to the FTC about the Commission’s letters to state medical boards and legislatures inducing boards and legislatures to take action contrary to patient safety.

On March 3, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear arguments in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC. Under review is a federal appellate court’s decision to support a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) order that the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners violated federal antitrust laws when it issued cease-and-desist letters to non-dentist teeth-whitening providers in the state.

Previously, the ASA joined the American Medical Association, the American Dental Association, and other healthcare groups in a friend of the court brief in support of the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners’ request for review of the appellate court’s decision. That brief was filed November 27, 2013. 

Read the FTC Press Release.

Previous ASA letters

• ASA letter to FTC on role of physician anesthesiologists treating chronic pain