In a historic challenge to Big Pharma, independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine) have introduced the first-ever federal bill to permanently ban all direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertising. The End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act, introduced today, would prohibit ads for prescription drugs and biologics across all platforms, from TV to YouTube. The bill aligns with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to curb pharmaceutical industry influence, and would deliver on a core demand of the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
The bill would ban ads for all FDA-approved prescription drugs and biologics, including “any promotional communication targeting consumers, including through television, radio, print media, digital platforms, and social media.” The ban would take effect 30 days after enactment, covering all approved or licensed drugs, regardless of when they were approved.
The U.S. and New Zealand are currently the only countries that allow DTC drug ads. According to TV ad tracking service iSpot, pharmaceutical companies spent $5.15 billion on TV ads last year, delivering 413 billion impressions. Besides helping to boost drug sales, the ads are hugely profitable for U.S. media companies that have seen more and more of their ad spots paid by drug companies.
The Sanders-King bill is unprecedented in its scope. While past legislative efforts have focused on limited advertising moratoriums for new drugs, and others have sought to eliminate tax deductions for drug ad spending, no federal legislation has ever called for a total, permanent ban across all platforms. The American Medical Association’s 2015 call for a drug ad ban and repeated pushes by RFK Jr. and allied figures like podcaster Joe Rogan helped lay the political groundwork, but Sanders and King’s bill is the first to translate those ideas into a concrete legislative proposal.
