The administration plans to issue around 100 cease-and-desist orders and thousands of warnings to pharmaceutical companies|Mpelletier1|CC BY-SA 3.0
In a major crackdown on Big Pharma, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum this week targeting direct-to-consumer advertisements of drugs.
The directive expands oversight beyond traditional TV ads to include social media and influencer promotions.
It instructs Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary to enforce stricter transparency rules, ensuring risks and side effects are more clearly disclosed.
The administration plans to issue around 100 cease-and-desist orders and thousands of warnings to pharmaceutical companies, online pharmacies, and influencers who fail to follow advertising regulations.
Officials also aim to close a 1997 “loophole” that allowed ads to direct consumers elsewhere for full risk information, instead of including it upfront.
Ads are a major marketing strategy for pharma companies, and experts say legal challenges are expected to follow the memo.
Pharmaceuticals spent $10.8 billion on US ads last year, with nearly 50% of it going to national TV.
Drug ads are also a lifeline for broadcast news, making up 24% of evening network and cable news ads so far in 2025 and bringing in $2.7 billion for CBS, NBC, Fox, and ABC, according to Nieman Lab.