Thompson Medical Company, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission

Thompson Medical Company, Inc. (defendant) marketed its pain-relief cream Aspercreme, which contained a chemical variant of aspirin (trolamine salicylate) rather than aspirin itself, using advertising claiming it provided the "strong relief of aspirin" and "concentrate[d] the relief of aspirin." The FTC (plaintiff) found Thompson had no scientific basis for these efficacy claims and had misleadingly implied Aspercreme contained a more effective aspirin variant; after an administrative law judge and the full commission found Thompson liable, the FTC issued a final order barring Thompson from claiming Aspercreme's effectiveness without support from two adequate, well-controlled scientific studies, and Thompson petitioned for review, arguing two studies shouldn't be required for a mere efficacy claim.