Opinion ID: 369355
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Paragraph I,E.

Text: 82 Paragraph I,E requires petitioners to include in all advertisements the statements DIETING IS REQUIRED and WARNING: THIS PRODUCT POSES A SERIOUS HEALTH RISK FOR SOME USERS. READ THE LABEL CAREFULLY BEFORE USING. Petitioners urge us to vacate this much of the order because it is unsupported by substantial evidence, creates an inconsistency in the treatment given to different persons engaged in the same conduct, and violates the First Amendment. 14 83 Substantial evidence in the record as a whole supports the underlying findings on which these affirmative disclosures are based. In Part IV,A,1 and B,3, Supra, we affirmed the Commission's findings concerning the necessity of a low calorie diet regimen, 15 and the health risk caused by PPA. 84 Petitioners' inconsistent treatment argument is premised upon the fact that the Commission did not impose a DIETING IS REQUIRED disclosure requirement on the manufacturer in Carlay Co. v. FTC, 153 F.2d 493 (7th Cir. 1946), and the Commission did not require the inclusion of either disclosure in Alleghany Pharmacal, supra. The Carlay case involved an entirely different product, which did not include PPA, and consequently comparison is not justified. In Alleghany Pharmacal, which did involve the same product, the advertisement quoted in the Commission's opinion made no representations concerning weight loss without dieting, the Commission found the advertisements contained no representations concerning safety, and the complaint apparently did not allege the failure to include the warning as an omission of material fact. In any event, when the safety of consumers is involved, as it is here, we would not preclude the Commission from imposing such a sanction simply because it failed to do so years before in another case. 16 85 The fact that other firms in the market are not similarly burdened does not affect the validity of this order.  'The purpose of Commission orders is not to put those employing deceptive acts or practices In pari delicto with each other.'  Spiegel, Inc. v. FTC, 494 F.2d 59, 64 (7th Cir.), Cert. denied, 419 U.S. 896, 95 S.Ct. 175, 42 L.Ed.2d 140 (1974) (quoting Collier & Son Corp. v. FTC, 427 F.2d 261, 276 (6th Cir. 1970)). 17 86 The First Amendment permits the imposition of disclosure requirements in appropriate cases. Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, supra, 425 U.S. at 771-772 n.24, 96 S.Ct. 1817; Warner-Lambert Co. v. FTC, supra, 183 U.S.App.D.C. at 239-240, 562 F.2d at 758-759. We described the limitations placed on the scope of the authority to require disclosure in National Commission on Egg Nutrition v. FTC, supra, 570 F.2d at 164: 87 The First Amendment does not permit a remedy broader than that necessary to prevent deception, . . . or to correct the effects of past deception. 88 The DIETING IS REQUIRED disclosure is necessary to prevent deception. The record shows the X-11 tablets do not cause weight loss in the absence of a restricted calorie diet regimen. An advertisement that does not disclose this is deceptive. We therefore uphold the requirement that the phrase DIETING IS REQUIRED be included in future advertisements. 89 Unnecessarily broad, however, is the requirement that the advertising by Porter & Dietsch and Fraser of any product contain the words WARNING: THIS PRODUCT POSES A SERIOUS HEALTH RISK FOR SOME USERS. READ THE LABEL CAREFULLY BEFORE USING. The Commission itself recognizes in its brief that this warning should not be required for products that do not contain PPA or similar compounds, because PPA is the only ingredient in X-11 shown by the record to cause a health risk. Yet the order is not so limited. 90 Moreover, the quoted words are not sufficiently specific even as to products to which they may appropriately be applied. So far as the evidence shows, PPA is dangerous only to users who suffer from certain ailments. 91 The order is modified by making the warning requirement applicable only to products that contain PPA or similar compounds and changing it to read, WARNING: THIS PRODUCT POSES A SERIOUS HEALTH RISK FOR USERS WITH HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, OR THYROID DISEASE. READ THE LABEL CAREFULLY BEFORE USING. 92