This Crackdown on Drug Ads Is Long Overdue: Lisa Jarvis

The Trump administration’s crackdown on pharmaceutical ads is a welcome step toward lessening Big Pharma’s influence over conversations between patients and their doctors.

Americans are among the few people in the world bombarded with advertisements for medications most of us don’t need — New Zealand is the only other country that allows direct-to-consumer drug advertising. These policies have given pharmaceutical companies significant influence over consumer behavior when it comes to health.

The executive order signed by President Donald Trump last week is an attempt to force these companies to be more transparent about the side effects of their products — and hopefully draw necessary attention to the increasingly ...