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The Law Offices of David A. Balto provides counsel to companies on a broad range of antitrust matters and frequently represents parties before the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, Congress and state legislatures. 

David Balto

The Law Offices of David Balto counsels a wide variety of Fortune 500 companies, small business and consumer advocates on antitrust law and mergers. 

Recently Mr. Balto was quoted in the New York Times on the proposed merger of CVS and Aetna, saying, "This is a marketplace that hasn't done very well because lack of transparency" and the combination of these two gigantic companies "could bring them into the cross hairs of regulation." 

David Balto wins John Helmuth Award from the Organization for Competitive Markets.  Click here to read more.

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May 14, 2024, David Balto wrote an article in Law360 saying that the ITC's Comcast patent ruling should not be overturned.

April 2, 2024, David Balto submitted a letter on the AbbVie-Allergan merger to the Federal Trade Commission raising concerns about whether any divestiture can remedy the competitive concerns posed by the merger. The letter was submitted on behalf of Families USA, Public Citizen, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), UNITE HERE, Consumer Action, American Federation of Teachers, Alliance for Retired Americans, American Family Voices, Doctors for America, End AIDS Now, Prescription Justice, Social Security Works, the Other 98, and Treatment Action Group. 

February 18, 2024 David Balto and Andre Barlow submitted a letter on the AbbVie-Allergan merger to the Federal Trade Commission raising concerns about whether any divestiture can remedy the competitive concerns posed by the merger. The letter was submitted on behalf of Families USA, Public Citizen, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), UNITE HERE, Consumer Action, American Federation of Teachers, Alliance for Retired Americans, American Family Voices, Doctors for America, End AIDS Now, Prescription Justice, Social Security Works, the Other 98, and Treatment Action Group. 

January 16, 2024 David Balto published an article urging the Department of Justice not to terminate the Paramount consent decress, which are antitrust orders that ensure movie studios don't make consumers pay for less. 

December 16, 2024 David Balto submitted a letter in support of HR 5304, a bill to lower drug prices by regulating pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), requiring transparency, and mandating that PBM rebates and discounts be passed on to consumers. The letter was submitted on behalf of Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, End AIDS Now, People's Action, SEIU, Treatment Action Group, and UNITE HERE!. 

November 22, 2024 David Balto wrote an article arguing that any package of bills to lower prescription drug prices must address PBMs. 

September 12, 2024 David Balto and Andre submitted a letter on the AbbVie-Allergan merger to the Federal Trade Commission on behalf of Families USA, Public Citizen, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), UNITE HERE, Consumer Action, American Federation of Teachers, Alliance for Retired Americans, American Family Voices, Doctors for America, End AIDS Now, Prescription Justice, Social Security Works, the Other 98, Treatment Action Group, and NextGen California. The letter expresses concerns that the AbbVie-Allergan merger will harm competition and consumers and lead to higher drug prices. The organizations urge the FTC to carefully investigate the merger and block it if necessary. 

August 7, 2024 David Balto published an Op-Ed in support of the Lower Health Care Costs Act, which would rein in the costly practices of pharmacy benefit managers that contribute to higher drug prices and ensure that rebates are passed on to consumers. 

July 12, 2024 David Balto and Andre Barlow submitted a letter on behalf of Consumer Action and U.S. PIRG on the CVS-Aetna merger and how CVS's acquisition of Aetna will increase its bargaining power and harm consumers through higher prices. 

June 21, 2024 David Balto and Andre Barlow submitted comments on behalf of Consumer Action and U.S. PIRG opposing the Department of Justice's proposed final judgment for the CVS-Aetna merger, arguing that it is insufficient to protect competition and consumers. 

June 12, 2024 David Balto published an Op-Ed urging State Attorneys General to use their powers to challenges the misconduct of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and to enforce antitrust laws. 

June 10, 2024 David Balto published an Op-Ed in support of the Department of Health and Human Services's rule to eliminate the safe harbor for most rebates and arguing that CBO's analysis fails to take into account certain factors. 

May 17, 2024 David Balto published an Op-Ed urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and challenge the anticompetitive practice of rebate walls, where drug companies use their dominant market position to secure preferential access for their drugs and stifle competition by offering lucrative incentives to payors in the form of volume-based rebates. 

May 7, 2024 David Balto submitted a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in support of the CREATES Act, a bill that will promote access to more affordable generic drugs and encourage competition. The letter was sent on behalf of Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Families USA, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, and U.S. PIRG. 

April 24, 2024 David Balto submitted comments before the Maine Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services in support of LD 1504, a bill that would help regulate pharmacy benefit managers and lower drug costs. 

April 19, 2024 David Balto and Andre Barlow submitted a letter to Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Colin Hayashida urging him to make a judgment that numerous pharmacy benefit managers and health insurers have broken the law, denying beneficiaries the right to choose where to purchase prescription drugs and harming competition, and urging the Commissioner to take appropriate action. 

April 8, 2024 David Balto and Andre Barlow submitted comments on behalf of Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, NETWORk Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, and U.S. PIRG in support of the Department of Health and Human Services's proposed rule to lower drug prices by eliminating the safe harbor for most PBM rebates and requiring the remaining rebates be passed on to consumers. 

April 3, 2024 David Balto published an Op-Ed in support of PBM reform and arguing that antitrust statutes allow the Department of Health and Human Services to end the safe harbor for PBM rebates. 

March 26, 2024 David Balto submitted comments before the Minnesota Finance Committee in support of SF 278, a bill to regulate pharmacy benefit managers. 

March 18, 2024 David Balto submitted comments before the Ohio House Health Committee in support of HB 479, a bill to regulate pharmacy benefit managers. 

February 14, 2018 David Balto published an Op-Ed in support of the Department of Health and Human Services's proposed rule to eliminate the safe harbor for most prescription drug rebates and require that the rebates be passed on to consumers. 

February 1, 2018 David Balto submitted comments on behalf of Consumer Action before the Montana Senate Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs Committee in support of SB 71, a bill that would help regulate pharmacy benefit managers and lower drug costs. 

December 17, 2018 - David Balto and Andre Barlow submit comments on behalf of Consumer Reports, U.S. PIRG, Consumer Action, and the Universal Healthcare Foundation of Connecticut to the Department of Justice, opposing the merger of CVS and Aetna on the grounds that the merger will harm consumers, and that the divestiture requirement is not enough to protect competition.

December 4, 2018 - David Balto published an Op-Ed on how drug "rebate walls" should be dismantled by the FTC's antitrust arm. 

November 30, 2018 - David Balto published an Op-Ed on how antitrust regulators should combat anticompetitive activity in certain industries.

October 28, 2018 - David Balto published an Op-Ed on how European regulators are overreaching regarding the merger of AT&T and Time Warner. 

October 18, 2018 - David Balto and Andre Barlow submit a letter on behalf of Consumer Action to the New York Department of Financial Services, regarding the proposed merger of Aetna and CVS, on the grounds that the merger will harm competition and consumers.  

October 10, 2018 - David Balto comments on the problems with the Department of Justice's approval of the Aetna and CVS merger. 

October 2, 2018 - David Balto published Op-Ed "#DuopolyShrugged", highlighting the competitiveness of the advertising market.

September 14, 2018 - David Balto published an expert analysis vp下载 on Law360, "FTC's Public Hearings Will Be Valuable," regarding the ongoing hearings about competition and consumer protection in the 21st century. These events are an important first step in guiding enforcement priorities. 

August 20, 2018 - David Balto submits a letter on behalf of Patients for Affordable Drugs, U.S. PIRG, Consumer Action, Institute for Liberty, American's Health Insurance Plans, Consumers Union, Society for Patient Centered Orthopedics, and the Coalition to Protect Patient Choice, to the Federal Trade Commission, regarding abuse of regulations by brand name pharmaceutical companies to stop competition and block access to generic and biosimilar drugs. 

February 12, 2018 - David Balto published an article in Morning Consult, "Broadcom's Acquisition of Qualcomm: Redeeming the Unredeemable," arguing that Broadcomm's takeover bid for Qualcomm should be welcomed by all. 

January 11, 2017 - David Balto submits 免费Ⅴpn安卓, on behalf of Consumer Action and the Coalition to Protect Patient Choice, to the Federal Trade Commission, regarding the proposed acquisition of Essilor by the eyewear company Luxottica, on the grounds that the merger will harm competition and consumers and lead to higher costs and less choice.

January 10, 2017 - David Balto discusses why PBMs' pricing policies are likely to get additional scrutiny under the new Presidential administration in P&T Community.

January 9, 2017 - The New York Times quotes David Balto on the problems of PBMs squeezing out specialty pharmacies from the market. 

November 21, 2016 - Law Offices of David Balto filed an amicus brief with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v. American Express Co. on behalf of 23 leading antitrust professors in support of the Department of Justice's petition for rehearing urging the Court to reconsider its ruling allowing AMEX's anticompetitive steering rules. vpn下.

November 8, 2016 - Law Offices of David Balto filed an amicus brief with the First Circuit in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals v. Momenta Pharmaceuticals on behalf of consumer groups Consumer Action, National Health Law Program, and US PIRG urging the court to overturn the District Court's ruling expanding Noerr-Pennington antitrust immunity to cover private standard setting activity. View Here.  男子私自搭建VPN服务器非法获利50余万元被判刑_新闻中心 ...:2021-12-20 · 正义网贵港12月20日电(通讯员 杨德灿)吴向洋在未取得《增值电信业务经营许可证》的情况下,在网络上销售VPN伕理服务,根据《中华人民共和国电信条例》和《中国人民共和国刑法》等相关法律规定,吴向洋涉嫌非法经营罪。.

November 3, 2016 - David Balto published an article in Law360 discussing why the Third Circuit Court of Appeals should rehear the Doryx product-hopping drug case. View Here.

July 7, 2016 - David Balto in conjunction with 6 national consumer groups release a paper on why remedies will be difficult in the Aetna-Humana and Anthem-Cigna mergers. View Here.

August 17, 2015 - David Balto and James Kovacs discuss why DOJ should block the latest announced health insurance mergers. View Here.

July 24, 2015 - David Balto and James Kovacs published an article in Competition Policy International Antitrust Chronicle discussing current competition issues in healthcare provider merger antitrust.  View Here.

July 23, 2015 - David Balto talks to Bloomberg TV about Anthem-CIGNA and antitrust implications of the health insurance mergers. View Here.

July 15, 2015 - David Balto is quoted in NYT article articulating the harmful practices of pharmacy benefit managers in specialty pharmacy. View Here.

February 19, 2015 - David Balto files an amicus brief on behalf of consumer groups supporting New Yorks fight against product hopping.  View Here.