By Ron Zapata

Law360, New York (October 18, 2007, 12:00 AM ET) -- The Federal Trade Commission warned a congressional committee on Thursday that granting community pharmacists an antitrust exemption to negotiate collectively with health plans would ultimately hurt consumers.

The FTC made the comments during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee's task force on antitrust and competition policy, which examined the impact of antitrust laws on community pharmacies and their patients.

The hearing addressed a House bill called the Community Pharmacy Fairness Act, which would allow community pharmacists to negotiate collectively with prescription drug plan administrators known...