Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday in co-sponsoring his bill, the “End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act,” which would codify one of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s priorities.
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“With the exception of New Zealand, the United States is the only country in the world where it is legal for pharmaceutical companies to advertise their drugs on television. It is time for us to end that international embarrassment. The American people don’t want to see misleading and deceptive prescription drug ads on television. They want us to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and ban these bogus ads,” said Sen. Sanders.
“The End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act would prohibit direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceutical drugs to protect people. This bill is a great step to ensure that patients are getting the best information possible and from the right source: their providers and not biased advertisements,” said Sen. King.
The simple bill prevents all drug companies from advertising prescription drugs on any forms of media, applying to all current and future prescription drugs. The bill would not impact advertisements of over-the-counter medication.
According to Sanders, the top 10 pharmaceutical companies made over $100 billion in profits last year and spent over $5 billion on television ads alone. He claimed that pharmaceutical advertisements account for “30 percent of commercial time on major networks’ evening news programs.”
He also claimed that over half of all drug advertisements are misleading or outright false and downplay side effects to particularly target elderly Americans.
Secretary Kennedy has previously endorsed a ban on pharmaceutical advertisements both during his own failed presidential campaign and while campaigning for President Donald Trump.
“Let’s get President Trump back in the White House and me to DC so we can ban pharmaceutical advertising,” said Kennedy in November.
An end to pharmaceutical company advertisements could prove catastrophic for large left-wing news networks, which receive significant amounts of funding from drug companies to run their ads.
Sanders and King were joined by Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who also co-sponsored the bill.
