Senators Seek FDA Crack Down on Misleading Social Media Prescription Drug Ads

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) have urged the FDA to take “swift” action to update its enforcement tools to address the alarming proliferation of dangerous and misleading social media content promoting prescription drugs.

In a Feb. 14 letter to FDA Commissioner Califf, the Senators wrote that studies show that patients are more likely to ask their provider for a particular medication if the patient has seen a direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisement for the drug. “Unfortunately, it appears there are gaping holes in FDA’s oversight of DTC promotions that are being exploited on social media at the expense of children and patients,” the letter says.

The senators went on to criticize the FDA for not updating its draft guidance on prescription drug promotion for social media since 2014. The senators specified that the FDA’s “decade-old guidance must be modernized” and “clarify that these platforms are subject to its jurisdiction’ and need to comply with the same federal requirements as other DTC drug ads such as “requirements on accuracy, side effect disclosures, and fair balance of risk information.”

Read the Durbin/Braun letter here.

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