Second Circuit Holds That Conclusions in Scientific Study Are Not Actionable as False Advertising

Summary: Can a company state a claim for relief for false advertising based on its competitor’s sponsoring and promoting a scientific study on the ground that the study’s conclusions are allegedly incorrect and therefore false? In a recent decision of particular importance to advertisers of pharma­ceutical products, the Second Circuit answered in the negative, holding that a study’s conclusions were protected speech under the First Amendment.