Pharmaceutical Fantasy Fails As Free Speech

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided the case of United States v. Harkonen on March 4, 2013.  The Court affirmed a jury conviction for wire fraud, triggered by publication of a press release allegedly announcing false clinical trial results for interferon gamma-1b ("Actimmune").  In this case, the Court appears to have poured cold water over the notion that the First Amendment right to free speech may authorize factually-false commercial speech, particularly in the realm of marketing pharmaceuticals.  Caveat vendor.