Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, both independents, on Thursday will introduce legislation that would ban pharmaceutical companies from promoting prescription drugs directly to consumers – including through television, radio, print, digital platforms, and social media, the WSJ reports.
The proposal would mark a sweeping shift in the U.S. advertising landscape, where pharmaceutical companies are among the largest spenders. Prescription drug brands accounted for roughly 13 percent of all ad spending on linear television in 2025, totaling approximately $2.18 billion so far this year, according to iSpot data. In 2024, the industry spent $3.4 billion on traditional TV ads between January and August alone, according to ad-tracking data.
“The American people don’t want to see misleading and deceptive prescription drug ads on television,” Sanders said in a statement. “They want us to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and ban these bogus ads.”
These pharmaceutical ads are already banned in the UK and Europe. A doctor should be the one informing you about medicine, not a TV commercial.
I’ve been tired of seeing these pharmaceutical commercials on tv for years. Please no more.
They always say “tell your doctor is you have this, this, or this, etc”. Your doctor should already know what you have, if he’s really a doctor. WTF
at least they tell you the side effects are worst than what you are trying to fix
Yep. That’s the good thing about those ads.