US President Donald Trump is launching an enforcement drive against pharmaceutical companies and social media influencers who are responsible for “misleading” drug advertising.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is sending thousands of letters warning pharmaceutical companies to remove misleading ads, in addition to issuing around 100 letters to other companies demanding they pull deceptive marketing.
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The drive is via a presidential memorandum in which Trump has tasked health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr) to clamp down on direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising. This includes increasing the amount of information regarding any risks associated with using the medicine.
The political spotlight turned on drug advertising in the wake of a controversial advert aired by telehealth company Hims & Hers during this year’s Super Bowl final. The advert advocated for its compounded weight loss drugs while attacking rival products from Big Pharma. The commercial drew criticism from senators while regulators said that side effects were not properly explained during the commercials.
Trump blamed the weakening of FDA requirements over time, which he said has allowed drug companies to include less information, particularly in broadcast advertising.
According to the FDA, it only sent one warning letter to a pharmaceutical company in 2023, and none were issued at all in 2024. The agency asserted it will “no longer tolerate such deceptive practices” going forward, adding that it is ready to aggressively enforce regulation.
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By GlobalDataTrump’s memorandum said: “My administration will ensure that the current regulatory framework for drug advertising results in fair, balanced, and complete information for American consumers.”
The US is the only country besides New Zealand that allows direct advertising of prescription drugs to consumers. In the US, this has created a market worth billions of dollars for commercials via television, radio, and billboards, among others. The boom in popularity of social media has also created another medium in which pharmaceutical products can be advertised.
A 2024 review in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research reveals that while 100% of pharmaceutical social media posts highlight drug benefits, only 33% mention potential harms. Current law requires that advertisements present a fair balance between a product’s risks and benefits.
RFK Jr said: “Pharmaceutical ads hooked this country on prescription drugs.
“We will shut down that pipeline of deception and require drug companies to disclose all critical safety facts in their advertising. Only radical transparency will break the cycle of overmedicalisation that drives America’s chronic disease epidemic.”
Sneha Dave, executive director for Generation Patient, a nonprofit that helps young patients with rare diseases, said: “Our community has seen an alarming rise in social media pharma ads that funnel patients to sham telehealth companies created by manufacturers, with providers financially incentivised to prescribe medications. This announcement is a step in the right direction toward ensuring patients receive fair, balanced, and accurate information about prescription drugs.”
