Trump warns thousands of pharma companies over "deceptive ads"

The Trump administration said Tuesday evening it's sending out 100 cease-and-desist letters to companies as part of a crackdown on what it called misleading direct-to-consumer ads.The big picture: Meanwhile, President Trump signed a memorandum directing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to enforce transparency on pharmaceutical advertising, including increasing the amount of information in the ads about risks of using the drugs.Zoom in: In addition to the cease-and-desist letters to companies that it says have "deceptive ads," the FDA said in a statement that it's sending "thousands of letters warning pharmaceutical companies to remove misleading ads."And the Trump administration is closing a 1997 "loophole" that allowed drug ads to "footnote vital information" by redirecting consumers to other sources, such as websites, for the full details of pharmaceutical products, per a joint statement from the Department of Health and Human Services and FDA.Some drug companies had used the loophole "to conceal critical safety risks in broadcast and digital ads, fueling inappropriate drug use and eroding public trust," according to the FDA's statement.What they're saying: "Pharmaceutical ads hooked this country on prescription drugs," per a statement from Kennedy, who in November suggested he wanted to "ban pharmaceutical advertising." "We will shut down that pipeline of deception and require drug companies to disclose all critical safety facts in their advertising," he added in the statement.Between the lines: Because Trump doesn't have authority to ban drug ads, he seems to be trying to make it "death by disclosure and rulemaking" that may not survive legal challenges, wrote Raymond James analyst Chris Meekins in a note.The length of ads will increase if companies have to disclose every side effect, driving up company costs. The cease-and-desist letters will also create more legal and regulatory risks, though it's hard to know what the FDA will choose to target, Meekins said.Companies will have to decide whether to sue and risk the Trump administration's wrath going forward in areas like Medicare drug price negotiations, he wrote. "No company wants to be the next Harvard."

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