News release: “In testimony before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government of the Committee on Appropriations, the Federal Trade Commission today described the agency’s continuing work to promote competition and protect American consumers, including initiatives to stop fraud targeting financially distressed consumers, protect privacy, and prevent anticompetitive practices such as “pay-for-delay” in the pharmaceutical industry, which costs consumers $3.5 billion a year in higher drug costs. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz summarized the FTC’s FY 2011 budget request, noting that strong support from Congress has made the agency more effective in its consumer protection efforts. The testimony stated that, in the past year, the FTC has brought almost 40 law enforcement actions to stop scams that prey on consumers suffering from the financial downturn, and the agency is also engaged in rulemaking and consumer education efforts related to financial services. In the financial services area alone, the FTC has filed more than 100 actions over the past five years, and obtained nearly $500 million in redress for consumers in the past 10 years.”