The operators of an addiction treatment clinic in Florida have agreed to pay $1.9M to settle allegations that they had used misleading Google search ads, as well as telemarketing, to impersonate treatment providers. The clinic also agreed not to impersonate other companies or deceptive advertisements, such as other substance abuse disorder treatment centers.
According to the FTC complaint from January 2025, Evoke Wellness, LLC, Evoke Health Care Management, LLC, as well as their officers, Jonathan Moseley, and James Hull, targeted online consumers who were searching for specific substance abuse disorder clinics. The FTC’s January 2025 complaint states that Evoke Wellness, LLC, Evoke Health Care Management, LLC and their officers Jonathan Moseley and James Hull targeted consumers searching for specific substance use disorder clinics online.
Evoke’s telemarketers would pretend to be a central admissions office, or a hotline for addiction treatment, when consumers called. They were not Evoke call centers. The telemarketers reaffirmed the deception of the ad by falsely claiming that they had a relationship to the clinic consumers were trying to contact. In its complaint, the FTC claimed that this conduct violated the FTC Act as well as the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act of 2018
Andrew N. Ferguson, Chairman of the FTC, said: “Opioids are destroying American communities. They kill well over 100 Americans every day and wreck the lives of many others.” The settlement today helps those who are addicted to opioids navigate the path towards recovery, by preventing fraudsters leading them in the wrong direction. The Commission will continue taking all actions it can to stop those who take advantage of our nation’s most vulnerable people in their time or need.
The proposed order resolves FTC’s complaints. The order must be approved before it can go into effect by a federal court.
- The defendants are prohibited from using the names of their rivals in search engine ads.
- Misrepresentations about substance abuse disorders treatment services are prohibited.
- The defendants are prohibited from impersonating any other business;
- The defendants must implement a program to monitor their call centres for false statements.
- Order them to correct any agents who do not follow the order.
The order also imposes civil penalties of $7 million against the defendants. This amount is suspended in part to $1.9 millions due to their inability pay the entire amount. The full amount is due if they later find out that they misrepresented their financial situation to the FTC.
The Commission approved the final order stipulated by the Commission with a vote of 3-0. The FTC filed its proposed order in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida.
Victor DeFrancis, Cassandra Rasmussen and the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the FTC are the lead staff attorneys in this case.
NOTEStipulated Final Orders or Injunctions Have the Force of Law When Approved and Signed by the District Court Judge
