Sick of Commercials For Prescription Drugs? The Rules Are About to Change



If you watch any type of television, or even streaming services with ads, it’s likely you’ve seen commercials for prescription medication. Entire ensembles, in coordinated colorful costumes, moving in perfect sync, choreographed, singing, and parading through the center of town — or an office building for some reason — loudly and proudly singing about their newly lowered A1c. Sure, they mix it up, too. Sometimes they’re dancing through the farmer’s market, mountain biking across trails, or giggling through a mimosa brunch. Prescription drug ads abound, through all hours of the day, during all types of television shows, but they’re seldom filled with the reality of the medications they’re promoting. The United States allowing such ads at all is actually unusual among the rest of the world’s countries. In fact, the U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries that allow direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements. In 1996, $550 million was spent by pharmaceutical companies on drug ads. By 2020, that number had risen to $6.58 billion annually. Now, the FDA has released a new ruling for prescription drug ads, and it will take effect on Nov. 20, 2024. So, what are the new rules? 

  1. 1. Major statements must be presented in “consumer-friendly” language. Advertisers must avoid advanced medical jargon and ads can’t be aimed at “tricking” buyers. 
  2. 2. Audio information must be understandable. You can’t jumble your words, read them at a rapid pace, or change the volume in order to squeeze them in and/or make them difficult to understand. 
  3. 3. Text must be presented in a clear, conspicuous, neutral manner. Ads must show information in “dual modality” — a fancy term that means the ad must show visible text as well as verbally speaking and they must be at the same time. 
  4. 4. Text information in drug ads must be readable. Take television ads for instance. Sitting at an average distance from the television, you can’t read the text. That itty bitty fine print isn’t going to cut it anymore. Drug companies must make it fair and enable viewers to actually read the print at the bottom of the screen. Quick flashes of fine print are no longer acceptable. 
  5. 5. Ads must not include “distractions.” Aren’t all drug ads a massive distraction? Instead of seeing a woman throwing up, you see a woman gleefully dancing and serenading us about her newly lowered A1c. Sadly, the ruling doesn’t prohibit music, loud sounds, or choreography, but says they must not play OVER the description of side effects or warnings. 

So, basically what the new ruling means is that the FDA is once again blowing smoke up the posteriors of the American public. Is there a drug for that?