DOJ, FTC Oppose Dental Board Immunity in SmileDirectClub Case

The Biden administration weighed in on SmileDirectClub LLC’s lawsuit challenging restrictions imposed on it by Georgia’s dental board, urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to reject the board’s request for “state action” immunity against the company’s antitrust claims.

In their joint brief, the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission say a federal judge’s decision denying the board’s state-action immunity bid shouldn’t be subject to appeal in the first place. But if the Eleventh Circuit does review the ruling, it should affirm, they argue.

Although courts often refer to the state-action antitrust defense using the shorthand term ...