With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. set to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Big Pharma is facing challenges as its main source of funding is at risk. One of Kennedy's early actions would focus on pharmaceutical advertising, specifically the direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads for prescription drugs, which are only allowed in the U. S. and New Zealand.
Kennedy plans to issue an executive order to ban these pharmaceutical ads on television as part of his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative. He stated that banning pharmaceutical advertising on TV could help address the chronic disease epidemic, pointing out that the U. S. has the highest disease rate and drug costs. This ban would disrupt the influence of Big Pharma on mass media, which has heavily supported corporate media advertising.
An analysis suggests that Big Pharma’s drug sales could decrease significantly due to a DTC ban, as the return on investment for such ads is substantial. MediaRadar reported that DTC advertising reached nearly $7 billion in 2023. The UK-based research firm Intron Health considers Kennedy’s proposed ban a significant threat. Additionally, Kennedy has called for a review of recent FDA guidelines requiring clear warnings of drug side effects in ads.
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