FTC Fires Back at Dental Board’s Bid to Halt Antitrust Probe

The Federal Trade Commission urged a judge to throw out a lawsuit seeking to halt its investigation into enforcement actions Alabama’s dental board has taken against SmileDirectClub LLC, calling the board’s claims of “sweeping” antitrust immunity “unprecedented.”

“The complaint asks this court to short-circuit the ongoing administrative process” and rule “that the ‘state action’ doctrine is not just a defense against liability, but actually entitles the board to disregard a federal investigation,” the FTC says in a court filing. “That is a baseless claim and inconsistent with long-settled law.”

The lawsuit stems from a probe the FTC launched ...