No Representation Without Substantiation? What POM Wonderful v. FTC Means For Consumer Class Actions

In this first post of a two-part series, we take a closer look at last Friday's decision in POM Wonderful v. FTC by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which has meaningful implications for how companies advertise their products' health benefits to consumers. The decision bolsters the Federal Trade Commission's position that, when a company makes specific claims that its products' health benefits are scientifically "established," it must have "competent and reliable scientific evidence" to substantiate these claims–specifically, at least one randomized controlled trial (RCT), the "gold standard" in the medical and scientific fields. A company relying on studies that do not meet this gold standard, like POM Wonderful, risks being charged with false or misleading advertising by the Commission.