STAT September 13, 2025
What can the FDA’s plan to step up enforcement actually do? And more big questions
This article first appeared in the newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist.
Pharmaceutical ads in the United States are annoying. Absurd. And almost uniquely American.
In fact, only one other high-income country in the entire world — New Zealand — allows prescription drug companies to advertise directly to consumers. Everyone else has decided the downsides aren’t worth it. So why hasn’t the U.S. stopped them?
From the get-go, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has named eliminating pharmaceutical ads as one of his goals. And believe it or not, we’re with him on this one. (Gasp!) But can the administration actually take action? They think they can. This...
Today's Sponsors
Today's Sponsor