Trump Memo Forces Big Pharma Advertisements to Be 'Truthful and Not Misleading' on Drug Risks
Ensures transparency and accuracy for drug advertisements, including by increasing the amount of information regarding any risks associated with the use of prescription drugs.
President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday signed a Presidential Memorandum directing federal agencies to crack down on Big Pharma’s deceptive direct-to-consumer advertising practices.
In 2009, Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company by revenue at the time, was criminally charged and convicted through its subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn for deceptive advertising and illegal promotion of drugs like Bextra, resulting in a record $2.3 billion settlement that included a $1.3 billion criminal fine.
Pfizer makes the leading COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, COMIRNATY.
COVID vaccines have been linked to roughly 40,000 deaths, according to the CDC—but even that number barely scratches the surface, since the HHS-funded Harvard Pilgrim study confirmed fewer than 1% of vaccine injuries are ever reported to VAERS, meaning the true toll could be in the millions.
It took a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and an order from a federal judge in Texas to release Pfizer’s safety data showing over 1,200 diseases linked to their COVID injection.
The new memorandum requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure prescription drug ads disclose full and accurate information about potential risks.
It also directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to actively enforce laws that drug ads must be “truthful and not misleading.”
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Cracking Down on Misleading Drug Ads
Pharmaceutical giants spend staggering sums promoting their products directly to the public—over $10 billion in 2024 alone, according to the White House fact sheet.
The U.S. remains one of only two countries in the world that allows direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising, a practice long criticized for distorting the doctor-patient relationship.
The administration says these ads often gloss over safety risks, promote pills over lifestyle changes, and increasingly exploit social media channels through influencer campaigns that have gone largely unmonitored.
Trump’s memorandum seeks to end that.
Trump: ‘I’ve Never Been Loyal to the Special Interests’
In his statement, Trump contrasted his approach with the pharmaceutical lobby’s influence in Washington:
“I’ve [never] been loyal to the special interests; I have been loyal to our patients and our people that need drugs—prescription drugs—and devoted myself completely to fighting for the American people.”
The memo builds on Trump’s earlier moves this year, including an Executive Order enforcing his healthcare price transparency rule, which the Biden administration had previously rolled back, and another requiring “most-favored-nation” pricing so Americans don’t pay more for drugs than citizens of other countries.
Bottom Line
The new memorandum strikes directly at one of Big Pharma’s strongest levers of control: advertising.
By forcing companies to clearly outline risks, Trump is attempting to curb a practice that has misled patients for decades while enriching pharmaceutical giants.
Trump just took direct aim at the pharmaceutical industry’s propaganda machine, ordering the FDA and HHS to ensure every drug ad seen by Americans is accurate, transparent, and honest about the dangers.
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Um.... me thinks not. Especially when he is a huge investor in big pharma: Pfizer/GSK/J&J, and of course, Gilead - maker of Remdesivir - among others. His increase in pharma tariffs have allowed big pharma to jack up prices for consumers as well. People need to wake up and smell the bullshit.
This is another joke. There is NO way that any big pharma drugs are safe. They all have chemical poisons and toxins as their main ingredients. That is why there are often dozens of possible reactions as the body tries to battle these toxic pills of crappola. All vaccines and drugs affect the gut biome and that is never healthy.
TV ads are never going to tell the whole story. TV/radio drug ads need to be banned by this country but it is to much in the neck vise of the deep state to do anything positive. This is another clown show that saves nobody from the horrors of big pharma drugs and vaccines.