President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a memo to rein in direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs on television, social media, and other platforms.

The memo directs the Food and Drug Administration to more strictly enforce regulations for direct-to-consumer advertising for pharmaceuticals that provide misleading impressions about products, including drug side effects.

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Direct-to-consumer advertising for pharmaceutical products has been a source of significant controversy for decades. The United States and New Zealand are the only two developed countries that allow such television advertisements. 

The memo implements one of the 128 policy goals for the Make America Healthy Again Commission’s strategic report on improving the health of children in the U.S., which was published Tuesday afternoon.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made eliminating direct-to-consumer advertising a centerpiece of his independent presidential campaign in 2024. After hitching his wagon to Trump, it became a core component of the GOP’s MAHA agenda.

In May, the FDA issued a new rule requiring commercials to more clearly articulate potential side effects, marking the first major update in pharmaceutical advertising policy since 2007

Senior administration officials told reporters during a press call ahead of the executive order signing that the FDA on Tuesday sent approximately 100 cease and desist enforcement letters and thousands of warning letters to companies, indicating that they plan to enforce existing regulations that have largely been ignored or unenforced by prior administrations.

In particular, enforcing regulations for pharmaceutical advertising on social media platforms will be one of the FDA’s main goals following the executive action.

Senior administration officials told the Washington Examiner during a press call ahead of the executive order signing that social media advertising for pharmaceuticals was “off the radar” of the FDA division in charge of monitoring pharmaceutical advertisements. 

They said that social media influencers who are paid to promote pharmaceutical products without the proper disclosures will be one of the FDA’s new priorities, and the agency will use AI monitoring capabilities for enforcement. 

Administration officials did not directly name any pharmaceutical companies or drug products that were particularly flagrant in their violation of existing regulations, but they did highlight the Super Bowl advertisement in February for compounded GLP-1 weight loss medications produced by the telehealth company Hims&Hers. 

The controversial ad highlighted that the company sells drugs comparable to but less expensive than Ozempic and Wegovy, the name-brand drugs for Type 2 diabetes and obesity produced by Novo Nordisk. 

Though generally less expensive, compounded drugs are made directly by pharmacies and are not subject to FDA safety inspection or quality assurance.

Administration officials also said several companies have approached the administration in support of regulating direct-to-consumer advertising. 

Trump health policy advisors told reporters that the administration hopes that efforts to reduce spending on direct-to-consumer advertising will ultimately lower prescription drug prices across the country.

The watchdog group Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing found in March that the 10 top pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. spent a combined total of nearly $14 billion on advertising and promotion alone in the U.S.. 

An October 2021 study from the advocacy group America’s Health Insurance Plans found that seven of the 10 highest-earning pharmaceutical companies spent more on sales and marketing in 2020 than on research and development. 

Trump administration officials made clear that the intention of Trump’s executive order was to use regulatory authority to enforce existing statutes on direct-to-consumer advertising, largely regarding informing patients of potential negative side effects. 

Democrats in both chambers of Congress, including Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), introduced legislation this summer to eliminate direct-to-consumer advertising.