Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Announces Actions to Provide Greater Transparency and Accuracy in Prescription Drug Advertisements

President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing stronger oversight of direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising. The goal is to ensure ads provide complete, accurate, and balanced information to protect patients.

Key Points:

• Transparency & Risk Disclosure: The Secretary of Health and Human Services must require more disclosure about drug risks in advertisements.
• Strict Enforcement: The FDA Commissioner is tasked with ensuring ads are truthful, accurate, and not misleading under federal law.
• Problem Identified: Drug companies spent $10+ billion on ads in 2024. These advertisements — particularly on social media — are often misleading, can encourage unnecessary medication use over lifestyle changes, and undermine the physician-patient relationship.
• Global Context: Only one other nation allows such pharmaceutical advertising, highlighting U.S. vulnerability to misleading promotional tactics.
• Trump’s Broader Agenda: This action is part of his “radical transparency” initiative, building on earlier executive orders to enforce healthcare price transparency and demand most-favored-nation pricing for prescription drugs.

The administration frames these steps as a necessary move to protect patients, reduce pharmaceutical influence, and ensure Americans receive fair and accurate healthcare information.