by Stephen Wu

On June 12, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the appointment of Leemore Dafny to assume the newly created position of Deputy Director for Health Care and Antitrust, effective August 1, 2012.

Dafny is an Associate Professor of Management and Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University, where she has served on the faculty since 2002.  She is a microeconomist whose research focuses on competition in health care markets.

Her appointment to a newly created position signals the FTC’s continuing focus on the U.S. health care industry for antitrust scrutiny and, if anything, an effort to increase its expertise/jurisdiction over health care in relation to the U.S. Department of Justice.  According to economists with whom McDermott regularly works, clients should not expect a change in the FTC’s enforcement posture as a result of her appointment, but Dafny should bring a broader perspective given her work with health insurance markets, experience the FTC is currently lacking. 

The FTC’s press release announcing Dafny’s appointment can be found here.