FDA Sends 100 Cease-and-Desist Letters in Crackdown on DTC Drug Advertisements
Medically reviewed by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Sept. 12, 2025 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking new steps to regulate direct-to-consumer drug advertisements and eliminate misleading advertisements out of concern that patients are not receiving a "fair balance" of information on pharmaceutical products.
"For far too long, the FDA has permitted misleading drug advertisements, distorting the doctor-patient relationship and creating increased demand for medications regardless of clinical appropriateness," FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H., said in a statement.
This week, the agency announced it sent out thousands of letters to pharmaceutical companies warning them to remove misleading ads. About 100 cease-and-desist letters were also sent to companies that the FDA determined have "deceptive" ads.
This is in contrast to only one warning letter that was sent in 2023 and zero sent in 2024. "Despite widespread violations, the FDA has been increasingly lax and reactive in its enforcement approach over the last few decades," the agency wrote in a release.
The FDA also initiated rulemaking to eliminate the "adequate provision" loophole, created in 1997. Prior to 1997, pharmaceutical ads were required to report all contraindications, boxed warnings, and precautions in advertisements, but the FDA established a loophole that allowed companies to include a "major-risk statement" and then direct viewers to a website, toll-free number, or print insert for complete information.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this loophole keeps vital safety information from patients and has negatively impacted public health. The FDA's recent action returns the policy to the status quo before 1997, requiring pharmaceutical companies to present factual and uncontroversial statements that are legally required in drug advertising.
Stating that the agency will no longer tolerate deceptive practices, the FDA said it will "aggressively" implement available enforcement tools and has already started using artificial intelligence and other tools to review current drug ads.
The current law requires pharmaceutical drug advertisements to present a fair balance of a drug's risks and benefits, avoid exaggeration of benefits, disclose financial relationships, and include information on side effects and contraindications.
In explaining its reasoning behind these decisions, the FDA cited a 2024 review in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research that showed only 33 percent of pharmaceutical social media posts include potential drug harms and 88 percent of advertisements for top-selling drugs are not posted by the companies themselves and therefore may not adhere to the FDA fair balance guidelines.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
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