FTC Sues to Stop Mercury Marketing and Others from Deceptively Advertising Substance Use Disorder Treatment Clinics

The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint today alleging that Mercury Marketing, LLC, and other defendants impersonated substance use disorder treatment clinics in Google search ads to deceptively route consumers trying to call those clinics to defendant clinics.

“These defendants took advantage of consumers searching online for substance use disorder treatment services during one of the most difficult times in their lives,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC will not hesitate to take action to stop such underhanded and illegal conduct.”

The FTC’s complaint filed in federal court names as defendants: Mercury Marketing, LLC; Behavioral Healthcare Group of America, LLC; JLux Consulting, LLC; Malibu Detox, LLC; Malibu Recovery Center, LLC; Aliya Health Group, LLC; Fennaside, LLC; JHEL Holding, LLC; and four individual defendants, Christopher LiVolsi, Dennis Rinker, Robby Stempler, and Jennifer Russ.

The FTC alleges that defendants targeted consumers seeking information about specific substance use disorder treatment clinics not affiliated with the defendants. The complaint alleges:

• The defendants used Google search ads to prominently display the names of specific clinics while directing resultant phone calls to a defendant call center instead;
• Defendant telemarketers typically posed as representatives of consumers’ searched-for clinics or as employees of a centralized admissions office; and
• These telemarketers falsely represented that clinical professionals were recommending Malibu Detox or Malibu Recovery based on an objective assessment of a consumer’s individual history and needs after considering multiple treatment options when, in reality, the telemarketers were working on behalf of those defendant clinics.

The FTC alleges that as a result of these deceptive tactics, many consumers were deterred from seeking admission at the clinics they were actually trying to contact.

The complaint alleges the defendants’ actions violated both the FTC Act and the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act, as well as the Commission’s Impersonation Rule, and seeks a court order permanently barring the defendants from such conduct and imposing civil penalties against them.

The Commission vote authorizing staff to file the complaint was 3-0. The FTC filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

The staff attorneys handling this matter are Elizabeth Sanger, Stacy Cammarano, Robert Van Someren Greve, and Tiffany Woo in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.