The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) has concluded a sanctioning case against the Colegio Oficial de Odontólogos y Estomatólogos de la Primera Región (COEM) for failing to comply with commitments made in 2021 regarding anticompetitive advertising.

The investigation began in 2019 following complaints from two dental clinics. The case was resolved in 2021 through a conventional termination, where COEM agreed to certain commitments to rectify its advertising practices.

However, COEM did not remove references to the problematic advertising from its website and failed to submit a required report to the CNMC on time. These failures constitute a serious violation of the Competition Defense Law.

COEM acknowledged its responsibility and took advantage of a provision in the law that allows for a penalty reduction of up to 40%. Consequently, COEM paid a fine of €57,680, reduced from the original €96,134.

With this payment, the CNMC has officially closed the sanctioning case against COEM.