1 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20580

September 29, 2023 

RIN: 1210-AC11 

Docket No. REG-120727-2 

Attention: Office of Health Plan Standards and Compliance Assistance

Employee Benefits Security Administration, Room N–5653 

U.S. Department of Labor 

200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210 

Staff Comment from the Federal Trade Commission on Proposed Amendments to 

Regulations Implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act

The staff of the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission

(“FTC”) submit this comment in support of the proposed amendments to regulations 

implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, 1210-AC11.

1 FTC staff share 

the concerns of the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Labor, and the Department of 

Health and Human Services regarding the devastating toll of substance use disorders (“SUDs”) 

on individuals, families, and communities, and are deeply concerned about the ways in which 

those seeking treatment may be preyed upon by unscrupulous actors. Consumers faced with 

financial impediments, such as lack of insurance coverage, may be particularly susceptible to 

scams, which may in turn further impede their access to treatment or even derail treatment 

entirely. 

In addition to over a century of promoting free and fair competition in the U.S. economy, 

the FTC has worked for decades to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive business 

1 This comment expresses the views of staff of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. It does not necessarily 

represent the views of the Federal Trade Commission or of any individual Commissioner. The Commission has, 

however, voted to authorize the submission of this comment.

Bureau of Consumer Protection
2 

practices, including in the health care sector. The agency has brought hundreds of law 

enforcement actions challenging deceptive health claims and has obtained significant injunctive 

and monetary relief. In 2018 Congress passed the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention 

Act (“OARFPA”), which gave the FTC additional enforcement tools to combat SUD treatment 

scams, including the authority to obtain civil penalties. In the past two years the FTC has brought 

four enforcement actions under OARFPA. These cases illustrate the labyrinth of potential 

deception that people seeking SUD treatment must navigate to access care, in addition to 

financial and other impediments addressed in the proposed amendments. 

The FTC’s first case under OARFPA, FTC v. R360 LLC,

2

 filed in May, 2022, targeted 

allegedly false statements that the defendants would connect patients seeking addiction treatment

with “handpicked” and “cream of the crop” treatment centers after evaluating patients’

individualized needs. In reality, incoming calls from consumers were automatically routed to 

treatment centers without any individualized assessments. Moreover, R360 allegedly provided 

little to no vetting of any of the treatment centers to which it referred patients. The Order settling 

the FTC’s complaint included a $3.8 million civil penalty judgment against R360 and its owner, 

Steven Doumar, and enjoined them from continuing to make further misrepresentations.

In March 2023, the FTC sued AWAREmed Health & Wellness Resource Center and its 

owner Dr. Dalal A. Akoury for allegedly making a wide range of false or unsupported claims 

about the success of their services in treating addiction and other serious conditions.3 In their 

2 FTC Press Release, FTC Hits R360 and its Owner With $3.8 Million Civil Penalty Judgment for Preying on 

People Seeking Treatment for Addiction (May 17, 2022), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/pressreleases/2022/05/ftc-hits-r360-its-owner-38-million-civil-penalty-judgment-preying-people-seeking-treatmentaddiction. 3 FTC Press Release, FTC Sues Medical Clinic and its Owner for False or Unsubstantiated Claims its Treatment 

Could Cure Addiction and Other Diseases (Mar. 16, 2023), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/pressreleases/2023/03/ftc-sues-medical-clinic-its-owner-false-or-unsubstantiated-claims-its-treatment-could-cureaddiction. . 
3 

advertisements, the defendants described their clinic as the “Most Effective Medical Clinic 

Anywhere,” and claimed that it “Boasts a 98% Improvement Rate...Treating Just 

About...Anything,” including addictions to methadone and other drugs. The settlement barred

Dr. Akoury and her AWAREmed clinic from making such unsupported claims and required her 

to pay a $100,000 civil penalty. 

In addition to targeting false claims involving treatment centers, the FTC has also brought 

enforcement actions against companies that touted over-the-counter products with deceptive 

claims of addiction treatment. In June 2023, the FTC charged Michael J. Connors and his 

companies with deceptively marketing Smoke Away products—tablets and sprays comprised of 

vitamins and herbs such as alfalfa and licorice root—for the quick elimination of nicotine 

addiction and withdrawal symptoms.

4 The final order in that case permanently banned Connors 

and his companies from marketing or selling any SUD treatment product or service. It also 

contained a $7.1 million redress judgment and a $500,000 civil penalty. 

Most recently, in July 2023, the FTC sued Rejuvica, LLC and its owners, Kyle 

Armstrong and Kyle Dilger, alleging that they deceptively marketed their Sobrenix product for 

the elimination of alcohol cravings and the management of alcohol consumption, including 

through fake website reviews and advertisements masquerading as objective news coverage.5

The final order against Rejuvica and its owners prohibited them from making any 

unsubstantiated claims about health care products or services, and required them to pay $650,000 

in redress to consumers.

4 FTC Press Release, FTC Acts to Stop Owner, Marketers of ‘Smoke Away’ from Deceptively Claiming Products 

Enable Users to Quit Smoking (June 30, 2023), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/06/ftcacts-stop-owner-marketers-smoke-away-deceptively-claiming-products-enable-users-quit-smoking. 5 FTC Press Release, FTC Takes Action Against Makers of Sobrenix Supplement That Deceptively Claimed to 

Reduce Alcohol Cravings, Relied on Fake Endorsements (July 19, 2023), https://www.ftc.gov/newsevents/news/press-releases/2023/07/ftc-takes-action-against-makers-sobrenix-supplement-deceptively-claimedreduce-alcohol-cravings. 
4 

FTC staff are concerned that a lack of insurance coverage or high out-of-pocket costs 

might increase the appeal of nontraditional methods of SUD treatment for some consumers, 

leaving them more susceptible to the types of scams the FTC has recently addressed. For 

example, Smoke Away advertised its vitamin-and-herb-based products as “less than the cost of 

gum, patches, or prescriptions that often don’t work[.]” Rejuvica touted its Sobrenix product as 

“not an expensive rehab center.” Such advertising demonstrates how scammers target consumers 

burdened by the cost of SUD treatment. 

As the agencies pursue the laudable goal of parity of SUD treatment coverage, FTC staff

also want to highlight that insurance coverage does not insulate consumers from scammers. In 

fact, our own enforcement, reinforced by discussions with our law enforcement partners, has 

alerted us to fraudulent practices specifically geared towards exploiting insured consumers as 

well. Accordingly, local, state, and federal enforcement agencies must have resources to combat 

all illegal practices in the addiction space, including insurance fraud. FTC staff believe that 

nothing in the proposed amendments would prevent current systems and authorities from 

monitoring waste, fraud, and abuse, and that the proposed amendments strike the right balance

between leaving intact previous enforcement systems while promoting better insurance coverage 

for SUD treatment. 

The FTC is deeply committed to holding accountable bad actors who prey on consumers 

seeking SUD treatment, and FTC staff support the proposed amendments’ aim to diminish the 

financial impediments that make consumers vulnerable to SUD treatment scams. FTC staff thank 

the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and 

Human Services for the opportunity to provide this comment.