Movement To Ban Pharmaceutical Ads Gains Steam With New Policies, Bills Under Review

The health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., might see his longtime desire to ban all pharmaceutical advertisements come to fruition, as the Trump administration is reviewing new policies that would make it cost-prohibitive for drug companies to advertise directly to patients.Two policies are currently being considered that would place even more restrictions on Big Pharma when it comes to direct-to-consumer advertising, including one that would put a requirement for even greater disclosures of side effects, which would make the commercials much longer and much more expensive, according to a report from Bloomberg. The other policy would block the industry from writing off advertising dollars as a business expense for tax purposes, sources familiar with the matter told the business news outlet. The policies are likely a workaround to First Amendment protections that have prevented an outright ban.Any limits placed on Big Pharma’s advertising would be a win of sorts for Mr. Kennedy, who has long wanted an outright ban on the ads. He’s claimed that Americans consume more drugs than people in other countries and that direct advertising to consumers is the cause.“Let’s get President Trump back in the White House and me to DC so we can ban pharmaceutical advertising,” he said on X in November in the run-up to Election Day.RFK Jr. is not alone in his desire to ban pharmaceutical advertising. Last week, Senator Sanders of Vermont and Senator Angus King of Maine introduced a bill titled the “End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act,” which seeks to ban pharma ads on TV, radio, print, and digital platforms, including social media. Mr. Kennedy has not explicitly commented on the bill despite the common ground with Mr. Sanders.America and New Zealand are the only countries allowing pharmaceutical advertising. Officials from Mr. Sanders’s office claim this is due to lobbying in Washington from the industry.“Over the past 25 years, the drug companies have spent $8.5 billion on lobbying. Today, they have some 1,800 well-paid lobbyists in Washington, D.C. — including former leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties,” Mr. Sanders’s communication director, Ann Bahr, said in a statement to Newsweek, adding that his office has reached across the aisle to Republicans to join the bill.“Unbelievably, that is more than three lobbyists for every member of Congress. During that same period, they have provided over $700 million in campaign contributions. And they are equal-opportunity contributors. They contribute heavily to both Republican and Democratic candidates,” the statement said.Pharma companies have also dropped a large amount of money in advertising. In the first eight months of 2024, they spent nearly $3.4 billion on linear TV commercials, cable news, reruns of popular drama programs, and game shows.

Movement To Ban Pharmaceutical Ads Gains Steam With New Policies, Bills Under Review

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