Virginia Citizens Consumer

Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council 425 U.S. 748 (1976)... 

The Supreme Court rules in favor of the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, which sued the Virginia Board of Pharmacy for prohibiting pharmacists from advertising drug prices. The Court concludes that the public has the right to know price information about prescription drugs. 

In a decision written by Justice Harry Blackmun, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal and ruled against the Virginia State Board of Pharmacy. The ruling concluded that commercial speech has some protection under the First Amendment, particularly in relation to the right of citizens to receive information. Because the individual consumer and society in general may have strong interests in the free flow of commercial information, even commercial speech that has an economic rather than a political or artistic motivation deserves protection. Indeed, such information is crucial to the... 

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