Source: https://www.sflegalguide.com/blog/floridas-deceptive-and-unfair-trade-practices-act-and-physicians-physicians-beware.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 07:20:54+00:00

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Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) is a law that has been seldom used against physicians, but physicians must be vigilant to ensure they do not run afoul of FDUTPA. This article will identify some of the behaviors that could result in a statutory violation.
The above examples are only a small sample of the myriad of issues that physicians may face; they are by no means an all encompassing list.
The application of FDUTPA to physicians is an area that is continuing to evolve. It is clear that physicians must be very cautious and honest when describing their credentials, abilities, and must be cautious to not price fix, but the land mines that await physicians go well beyond these examples. Physicians will likely continue to have more of their medical practices intertwined with business practices. As such, physicians must remain alert as to not run afoul of FDUTPA in the evolving physician market.
Jared Dall'au is an associate at Zumpano Patricios & Winker, P.A. in Coral Gables. He concentrates his practice in health law and tax law.
1 See Dept. of Legal Affairs v. Father and Son Moving & Storage, 643 So. 2d 22, 27 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 1994).
2 PNR Inc. v. Beacon Prop. Mgmt., Inc., 842 So. 2d 773, 777 (Fla. 2003).
3 See Fla Stat. §501.202(2).
4 See Fla Stat. §501.204(2) (stating “due consideration and great weight shall be given to the interpretations of the Federal Trade Commission and the federal courts relating to s. 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. s. 45(a)(1)”).
5 See Quimby v. Fine, 45 Wn. App. 175, 180-81 (Wash. App. 1986); See also Dorn v. McTigue, 121 F.Supp.2d 17, 20 (D.D.C. 2000).
7 See In re Roaring Fork Valley Physicians I.P.A., 149 F.T.C. 1221, 2010 FTC LEXIS 119, 2010 FTC LEXIS 119.
8 Quimby v. Fine, 45 Wn. App. 175 (Wash. App. 1986). FDUTPA and Washington's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act are both derived from the federal Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
9 Chapman v. Wilson, 826 S.W.2d 214 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992). The Texas Deceptive Trade Practice Statute, Tex. Bus. & Com. Code Ann. §§17.41 -17.59 and Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. Art.4590i § 12.01 (Supp. 1994), is similar to FDUTPA.
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