The news: President Trump signed a memorandum on Tuesday that instructs HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the FDA to crack down on direct-to-consumer (D2C) drug advertising on TV and online channels like social media.

Unpacking the news: The FDA will issue a rule that revokes a nearly 30-year-old policy allowing pharma companies to run D2C ads without fully disclosing every side effect of their products. Since 1997, drugmakers have been able to get by with briefly stating the risks in an ad while directing consumers to an external resource, like a website or phone number where they can get complete product information.

The administration wants to revert to pre-1997 D2C drug advertising laws. This would require drugmakers to disclose all risks in-ad. Drug ads on TV are typically around a minute long, meaning this rule, if enforced, would effectively nullify every pharma commercial in its current form.

Yes, and: The administration isn’t only focused on TV drug ads. It plans to expand regulatory oversight to social media platforms. That likely includes telehealth companies and posts from social media influencers that promote access to prescription drugs. For context, these channels typically aren’t held to the same side effect disclosure mandates as drug manufacturers. But stricter oversight could change that.

The FDA said it sent thousands of letters warning drug companies to remove misleading ads, and issued about 100 cease-and-desist letters to companies with deceptive ads. The agency warned the pharma industry that it will significantly escalate the number of enforcement letters if D2C drug advertising doesn’t become more compliant. The FDA also said it’s using AI and other technologies to surveil and review drug ads.

Driving the news: The second Trump administration has been extremely critical of D2C pharma ads.

The administration cited several statistics supporting its stance in Tuesday’s fact sheet, including:

• D2C ads drove nearly one-third (31%) of the increase in US drug spending since 1997, when the FDA relaxed ad restrictions, per a 2023 study. That’s primarily because many patients who ask their doctors about a medication they saw an ad for end up getting a prescription for that drug.
• While 100% of pharma social media posts highlight drug benefits, only 33% mention potential harms, per a 2024 review in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research.
• In their defense, pharma companies say that D2C advertising makes patients more aware of medical conditions and more informed about possible treatments.

Key stats: Drugmakers spent $10.1 billion on prescription drug ads last year across traditional and digital channels, according to a recent Fierce Pharma report based on MediaRadar data. TV advertising accounts for about half of that spending, while prescription drug brands made up about 31% of evening program ad minutes on ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and NBC last year, per iSpot data cited by the WSJ.

Our take: Pharma companies, media networks, and online healthcare platforms that promote access to prescription drugs ought to be concerned that the current administration has the appetite to take on the powerful drug industry—even if it’s unclear what enforcement action can be taken outside of warning letters.

However, it’s premature to claim that this is the end of D2C drug advertising. For one, the industry will do everything in its power to challenge any policy changes in court—a tactic that has previously proven successful. Even if pharma companies lost that battle, while the administration’s proposed rules will make it more cumbersome to run prescription drug promotions, it won’t be impossible.