President Targets Prescription Drug Ads with New Memorandum

The President signed a memorandum on Tuesday aimed at curbing direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. This memorandum, while not a full ban, targets a wide range of entities, including pharmaceutical companies, traditional television, and social media and digital platforms. The administration plans to utilize existing regulations to issue approximately 100 cease-and-desist letters and thousands of warning letters to companies, reminding them of the government's plans to enforce current regulations regarding these advertisements. The memorandum is part of a broader effort to address the rising costs of prescription drugs and to ensure that consumers are not misled by aggressive marketing tactics.

The memorandum instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration to take action to ensure the transparency and accuracy of drug advertisements. This includes increasing information related to any risks associated with a product. An official stated, "Our goal is to ensure that patients receive appropriate information about drugs with potential hazards and to rebuild public trust." The government plans to use existing advertising regulations rather than seeking new ones.

Officials mentioned that the government will scrutinize social media companies and influencers who are paid to promote drugs without proper disclosure or adherence to the rules that pharmaceutical companies must follow. One official noted, "These advertisements are becoming more prevalent, creating misleading impressions, especially without proper disclosure of side effects—these advertisements have now infiltrated social media without proper disclosure, and online pharmacy advertisements do not follow many of the rules that many pharmaceutical companies adhere to."

The memorandum follows a report released by the President's "Make America Healthy Again" committee, which stated that the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice will strengthen oversight and enforcement of prescription drug advertising laws. Violations deemed "harmful" will be prioritized, including those by social media influencers and direct-to-consumer telemedicine companies.

The administration has indicated that it will not disclose the letters it sends out, but "we certainly can consider doing so." The officials emphasized that no single company is the primary offender, but they pointed out that earlier this year, senators wrote to the FDA about a company called His & Hers, which aired a Super Bowl advertisement for its online pharmacy's weight-loss drug without mentioning any potential hazards. "This certainly attracted a lot of attention," the official said.

The government also plans to close what officials call "loopholes" in the 1997 FDA action, which allowed drug advertisements to direct consumers to other sources, such as websites, for complete information on drug side effects or potential risks. Prior to this, the FDA had established strict guidelines in 1985 for television drug advertisements, requiring them to include all possible side effects if they wanted to indicate that the product was intended to treat a disease.

An official stated that enforcement has been lax in recent years, and the administration will "take these regulations seriously and respond to doctors' calls." Officials said many American doctors do not believe the information in drug advertisements is balanced and think these advertisements distort their relationships with patients. Some CEOs of large pharmaceutical companies have also asked the government to take action on drug advertisements, but the official did not name specific companies.

The memorandum is the latest in a series of efforts by the administration to control pharmaceutical advertising. In 2019, the President issued a rule requiring pharmaceutical companies to include their pricing in television advertisements. A federal judge struck down this effort, ruling that the Department of Health and Human Services had overstepped its authority.