Photo by Raimond Klavins

Many Americans do not remember life before direct-to-consumer (DTC) “ask your doctor” drug ads selling expensive, sometimes dangerous drugs for diseases many had not heard of until the ads.

The ads need to go according to US senators and some recent legislation they have introduced.

The End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act sponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine) in June would ban DTC ads in broadcast and print and even in social media.

“It is time for us to end th[e] international embarrassment,” says Sen. Sanders. “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.”

27 Years of Asking The Doctor

Beginning in the US in 1998 and only allowed in one other country (New Zealand), drugmakers spent almost $13.8 billion on DTC drug advertising in 2024, making back five times that amount.

DTC advertising began........

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