Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aims to ban pharmaceutical advertising if confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Last month, Kennedy declared that he will advise Trump to “ban pharmaceutical advertising on TV.” He noted that only two countries allow such advertising to be had on “the airwaves,” New Zealand and the U.S.
Research firm Intron Health expressed concern that the proposed ban threatens the biopharma industry.
“Whilst we have a relatively benign view of RFK’s impact on the Pharma industry, one thing that does worry us is the potential for the US government to ban DTC advertising of drugs,” Intron wrote, as reported by Fierce Pharma. They added, “We see this as the biggest imminent threat from RFK and the new Trump administration.”
Intron explained that the return for DTC drug ads is high, describing estimates on returns as “as high as 100% -500 %, depending on the drug.”
A petition on Kennedy’s website urges President Joe Biden to “instruct [the] FDA to ban pharma ads.”
“Pharmaceutical companies’ enormous advertising spending empowers them to dictate what goes on the evening news,” the petition says. “In effect, Big Pharma tells the TV announcers what they’re allowed to say and not say—especially about the pharmaceutical industry, but about any other subject, too. The huge advertising spend also massively increases the cost of prescription drugs.”
