(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum Tuesday directing federal regulators to increase transparency requirements for prescription drug advertisements.
The memorandum instructs the Department of Health and Human Services to “ensure transparency and accuracy in direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising” and directs the Food and Drug Administration to “enforce the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act’s prescription drug advertising provisions.”
The document calls for increasing “the amount of information regarding any risks associated with the use of any such prescription drug required to be provided in prescription drug advertisements, to the extent permitted by applicable law.”
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In the memorandum, Trump criticized current drug advertising practices, stating that advertisements “can mislead the public about the risks and benefits, encourage medications over lifestyle changes, inappropriately intervene in the physician-patient relationship, and advantage expensive drugs over cheaper generics.”
The president noted that while Congress gave the FDA authority to regulate prescription drug advertising in 1962, the agency’s requirements have “permitted drug companies to include less information, particularly in broadcast advertising” as drug manufacturer advertising has increased dramatically in recent decades.
