The Trump administration recently started a huge, unprecedented war on direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. Their mission is to protect patients by making drug advertising clear and truthful. The administration is off to the right start on this front with several important actions. It particularly focuses on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its Commissioner, Marty Makary. These measures have been put in place as of now. Recently, we’ve shared that a large majority of drug ad spending is concentrated on a small number of drugs.
We’re glad to see that the administration is taking such decisive action to drug advertisements on TV. Their goal is to give consumers better, more accessible information about the risks of products they might use. Feds moved to close a loophole spawned by a 1997 FDA decision that allowed the sale of mifepristone. Yet this loophole let pharma ads direct consumers to third-party websites to read all the details about a drug’s side effects and associated dangers.
Curiously enough, of the 2024 top ten paid medications, they took up almost 1/3 of the advertising dollars for all drugs combined. That just goes to show how dramatically these products drive the marketplace. One part of the administration’s new policy is sending at least 100 cease-and-desist enforcement letters. They will be sending out thousands of warning letters to companies to notify them regarding misleading information and false advertising surrounding drugs.
Instead of fighting for new regulations, the Trump administration plans to use existing regulations to hold them accountable. Similarly, physicians in the U.S. are more concerned than ever about drug ads. Most of them believe these ads provide complete and useful information and help rather than hurt their relationships with patients.
In February, U.S. senators expressed their concerns about a specific advertisement from Hims & Hers that promoted weight loss drugs without mentioning potential harms. This event has triggered renewed attention and criticism towards the substance and disclosure of pharmaceutical ads.
“Our goal is to ensure that patients have proper information about drugs that have potential harms, and it’s to rebuild public trust.” – Trump administration official
Within the new administration’s first hundred days, they launched a fierce campaign to name and shame big pharma on advertising. In 2019, it finalized a regulation that would have forced drugmakers to add their list prices to TV commercials. Despite the clear importance of this regulation, enforcement against it has failed to gain traction in recent years.
Yet now, the Trump administration claims that they’re committed to stopping these regulations from being run amok. In response to this growing concern, a handful of CEOs from major pharmaceutical companies have implored the administration to act boldly and end confusing drug ads.
“There has been broad frustration with the increasing prevalence of these ads creating a misleading impression, specifically not disclosing side effects appropriately – ads that have encroached now into social media without proper disclosures, and ads of online pharmacies that are not following the same rules that many pharmaceutical companies follow.” – Trump administration official
The administration is getting a bit more focused on the old school medium of television advertising. It’s not only taking advantage of the obvious growing trend of advertisements on social media and digital platforms. By targeting these avenues, officials aim to reduce the often dangerous effect that false advertisements can have.
As one official from the Trump administration recently stated, it’s just a matter of time until they go further. Their response was, “Well, we can definitely consider doing that,” indicating a willingness to consider further steps if needed.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration is still hiding these enforcement letters from public view. They are planning to release them publicly in the near future. This additional transparency would help to rebuild public trust in the regulatory process and make sure that rules pertaining to advertising disclosure are upheld.
As this initiative unfolds, it remains to be seen how effective these measures will be in reshaping pharmaceutical advertising practices. The administration isn’t just talking tough on enforcement. This commitment reflects an emerging conversation in the healthcare industry about the need for truthful messaging and ethical advertising standards.