Protecting competition and consumers: a conversation with Timothy J. Muris. Interview by William Sage.

In this interview with William Sage of Columbia University, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair Timothy Muris discusses his commission's role in the health care arena. He details the FTC's antitrust and consumer protection activities in a variety of sectors, including hospitals, physicians, and pharmaceuticals. Muris affirms the commission's belief that markets benefit consumers and that markets need basic rules to operate. The FTC's role is to enforce those rules, based on empirical evidence, in as much of the economy as possible, including health care.

Point/counterpoint: the proposed Grand Rapids merger.

When the federal circuit court decided not to grant an injunction to prevent a merger of one city's two major hospitals, the FTC filed an appeal--and a complaint with an administrative law judge. FTC lawyers say this action is within the realm of their responsibility; one hospital's CEO says that FTC complaint has a taint of vengefulness.

Competition among physicians. Avoiding anticompetitive activities.

Increases in both the cost of medical care and the numbers of providers have generated strong pressure for competition in the medical profession. The Federal Trade Commission strives to maintain such competition free from public and private restraints in order to maximize consumer welfare. The author describes the advantages of these types of competitive practices and discusses the competitive restraints that most concern the FTC: restrictions on ethical advertising, exclusion of competitors, restraints on dispensing drugs, and restrictions on commercial practice locations.