INSIGHTS

By Ian Ross and Jorge Perez Santiago

(Originally featured by the American Health Law Association at: https://www.americanhealthlaw.org/content-library/journal-health-law/article/c6fda9a6-4d67-4633-b65a-6e85a044661f/What-Health-Care-Providers-Should-Know-About-the-T )

Thousands of companies are sued every year under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (the TCPA). The attorneys who bring these lawsuits target every industry, but in recent years have focused much of their attention on health care companies and medical providers who communicate with their patients via text message and prere­corded messages. Many courts have held that certain provisions in the TCPA and its imple­menting regulations are subject to interpretation, and plaintiffs’ attorneys have taken advantage of this uncertainty by filing lawsuits first and worrying about the implications later. Although appellate courts—and even the United States Supreme Court—have stepped in to clarify the scope of the TCPA, it is important for health care professionals to understand the dangers posed by these lawsuits and to make sure that their compliance program and communications with their patients follow the TCPA and applicable regulations. This article will outline the basic structure of the TCPA and explain (1) what it prohibits, (2) the exemp­tions to the TCPA that have been enacted to protect health care professionals who need to communicate with their patients, and (3) how those exemptions have been interpreted by courts and why those interpretations continue to evolve.

By  Ian Ross and Jorge Perez Santiago

(Originally featured by Law360 at: https://www.law360.com/articles/1358537 )

Over the last two years, plaintiffs have increasingly looked to state courts when filing their consumer protection and privacy putative class actions.

Claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, for example, were once filed almost exclusively in federal court. Now hundreds are brought in state court where plaintiffs can try to avoid the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit precedent that has narrowed the viability of those cases.[1]

More recently, plaintiffs have tested their luck filing class claims based on alleged deceptive emails or data breaches under Florida’s Electronic Mail Communications Act and Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.[2]