Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Today, Americans for Tax Reform, with 29 other free market groups and advocates, released a coalition letter in opposition to recent efforts to quash direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have intensified regulation of these ads and have asked Congress for more leeway to do so. Worse, lawmakers like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Angus King (I-Maine), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) have introduced legislation to outright ban pharmaceutical ads.
Banning these advertisements outright – or regulating them into oblivion – would crush competition and keep patients in the dark. Consumers do not need government bureaucrats gate-keeping medical information. We urge you to resist these efforts.
Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) simply relays information to consumers. Like all ads, they must be truthful and not misleading. Outside of ensuring this basic standard, government bureaucrats have no business deciding what medical information Americans are allowed to see in ads.
TO READ THE LETTER IN FULL, CLICK HERE OR SEE BELOW.
