Trump memo restores pre-1997 rules for DTC drug ads

President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Tuesday directing federal health agencies to step up enforcement of long dormant rules governing direct to consumer prescription drug advertising, reviving pre 1997 standards that officials say will require fuller safety disclosures in television and digital ads. The White House said the action, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, was accompanied by roughly 100 cease and desist notices and thousands of warning letters to drug makers, online pharmacies and other advertisers.

Administration officials described the memorandum as an effort to close what they called a long standing enforcement vacuum that allowed misleading or incomplete drug promotions to proliferate across television and social media. Kennedy, who championed a ban on television drug ads during his campaign, called the move historic in an interview, and Makary said in a video post that the FDA will send about 100 enforcement action letters and thousands of warning letters to industry actors. We are taking drug marketing claims seriously and making our regulatory...