Brian L. Heidelberger, Sean G. Wieber, and Kristofer A. Ekdahl write:
Pharmacy chain Rite Aid scored a victory recently when the Second Circuit affirmed a district court grant of summary judgment in a putative class action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In Zani v. Rite Aid Headquarters Corp., 17-1230-cv (February 21, 2018), the plaintiff brought suit after receiving a prerecorded phone call to his cell phone encouraging him to get his flu shot at a local Rite Aid pharmacy. The plaintiff had a flu shot at Rite Aid the year prior, and in the course of that visit provided his cell phone number on a patient intake form.
Notwithstanding that the underlying purpose of the call was to advertise the availability of flu shots, the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit held that the prerecorded calls delivered a “health care message” and were therefore subject to less stringent consent requirements than those generally imposed on autodialed or prerecorded telemarketing calls and texts.
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