Robert Kennedy Jr. has not been confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has been on the Hill in recent days ahead of a confirmation hearing which still hasn’t been scheduled – it’s normal for Cabinet-level nominees to make the rounds of senators’ offices for one-on-one meetings, and those meetings are going poorly from the sound of it. Kennedy is a complete lunatic and everyone knows that. Something else happened last week – more than 15,000 doctors signed a letter “urging senators to vote against confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr..” The doctors cited Kennedy’s lack of qualifications and they called him “actively dangerous.” Unfortunately, that’s a feature, not a bug for most Republicans. But this might actually change a few minds in MAGA-ville: apparently, Kennedy has been serious this whole time about banning Big Pharma from advertising on television. As in, no more Ozempic, Jardiance or Skyrizi ads littering up the airwaves. It’s not that I think this particular Kennedy plan is good or bad, I just think it’s interesting that this could be a larger issue which might deflate his nomination.
Just days before the 2024 presidential election, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the stage in Glendale, Arizona, at an event hosted by conservative pundit Tucker Carlson. Kennedy had endorsed Donald Trump in his quest to return to the White House and was delivering a stump speech with a particular focus on health care issues.
“One of the things I’m going to advise Donald Trump to do in order to correct the chronic disease epidemic is to ban pharmaceutical advertising on TV,” Kennedy told the crowd, which responded with a standing ovation. “There’s only two countries in the world that allow pharmaceutical advertising on the airwaves. One of them is New Zealand, and the other is us, and we have the highest disease rate, and we buy more drugs, and they’re more expensive than anywhere in the world.”
Trump, of course, won the election, and he subsequently announced his intent to nominate Kennedy to lead Health and Human Services in the new administration, with pharma advertising seemingly top of mind. It is a development not lost on media executives. One top TV ad sales executive says that their company is following the developments closely and that their team has been casually gaming out ways to respond should any sort of ban or limit go into effect. Trump has made targeting the media a recurring theme in his campaign, filing lawsuits against ABC News and CBS News and with incoming FCC chairman Brendan Carr seemingly interested in holding broadcast owners to account.
To target pharmaceutical ads on TV would be a major financial escalation in that fight. And while lawsuits or FCC inquiries are targeted, a blanket ban on pharma ads would wound both friend and foe. Steve Tomsic, CFO of Fox Corp., which owns Fox News and the Fox broadcast network, was asked about the possibility of a ban Dec. 9 during a UBS conference. “Is it a concern? We shouldn’t be flippant about it,” Tomsic said, adding that pharma advertising represented low single digits of the company’s overall revenue and that Fox was “prepared to be proven otherwise, but it is going to be unlikely to be a blanket ban of all pharma.”
Still, a low-single-digit impact to Fox would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars a year. And the impact to the larger TV business would be considerable. Media measurement firm iSpot.tv says that the pharmaceutical industry will spend $5 billion-plus on national linear TV advertising this year. Billions more will be spent on digital and streaming ads.
In fact, the 10 biggest drugs alone count for more than $1 billion in annual spend, according to FiercePharma, with such brands as Ozempic and Jardiance spending north of $10 million a month on national TV ads alone and Skyrizi topping the charts with more than $30 million a month in TV ad spend.
Again, Trump and MAGAville are fine with Kennedy’s plans to reintroduce polio, measles and rubella to the American public. MAGAville loves all of the plans to kneecap vaccine schedules and promote the most bonkers conspiracies and pseudosciences. But would Trump actually sign off on anything which would hurt his best friend, the television? If Fox News executives call Trump and ask him to not take away their lucrative Pharma commercials, won’t he listen to them? Won’t all of the Republican senators listen to Pharma executives and TV executives? So the easiest solution is probably getting Kennedy to change his mind.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.
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- GLENDALE, ARIZONA, USA – 23 August 2024 – Former President of the United States Donald Trump and former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy (who has endorsed Trump) speaking with attendees at an Arizona for Trump rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, USA -,Image: 931273662, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Gage Skidmore / Avalon
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- GLENDALE, ARIZONA, USA – 23 August 2024 – Former President of the United States Donald Trump and former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy (who has endorsed Trump) speaking with attendees at an Arizona for Trump rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, USA -,Image: 931274215, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Gage Skidmore / Avalon
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- GLENDALE, ARIZONA, USA – 23 August 2024 – Former President of the United States Donald Trump and former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy (who has endorsed Trump) speaking with attendees at an Arizona for Trump rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, USA -,Image: 931274245, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Gage Skidmore / Avalon
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- GLENDALE, ARIZONA, USA – 23 August 2024 – Former President of the United States Donald Trump and former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy (who has endorsed Trump) speaking with attendees at an Arizona for Trump rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, USA -,Image: 931274356, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Gage Skidmore/Avalon/Avalon
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- GLENDALE, ARIZONA, USA – 23 August 2024 – Former President of the United States Donald Trump and former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy (who has endorsed Trump) speaking with attendees at an Arizona for Trump rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, USA -,Image: 931274857, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Gage Skidmore / Avalon
This is a great idea but you also need a Pharmaceuticals Benefit Scheme. I think you have one for pension aged people. Other industrialised countries have them for everyone. E.g. in Italy, where healthcare is a human right & the health system is one of the best on the world, antibiotics cost €10 if you’re not in the health system e.g. here on holiday, €2 if you are & €0 if you choose a generic one. You need a script of course, but it’s free to see the GP. You need Medicare for all & a PBS scheme for all.
I was in the pharmacy this week in line behind an 80+ year old woman who had insurance and yet was horrified by the price of her prescription. She had to call a friend to try to figure out how she could possibly afford it. I felt awful for her.
All the Medicare Part D deductibles went up this year. Mine is 500$ before the insurance kicks in, so if I refilled an rx in January that cost 499$, I would have to pay the 499$ upfront. That’s probably what sent her reeling, that initial payment.
Her doctor should have warned her. They know what drugs cost. I remember when my mother was undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma when she ended up with a blood clot in her leg. They were ready to send her home with a prescription for some sort of shot to be taken daily for x number of days, but it cost $1000 per shot. When she heard that she said no, not doing that. Just no. They could administer that to her in the hospital & it wouldn’t cost that amount, but she couldn’t stay in the hospital for the next x number of days. My mom just kept saying no, not doing that. So the doc went to work & found some sort of discount or program or something from the pharmaceutical company that discounted the shot to something more affordable & she said OK to that & came home.
tldr: this 80yo woman’s doc could have warned her.
I’m old enough to remember when this WAS a thing. It wasn’t until the mid ’80s that very strict Pharma ads were allowed on tv, and it wasn’t until the ’90s, these “commercial” ads (like the singing Rxs) we’re seeing now were allowed to air. So this is just a repeal, if you will. Frankly, while it’s a big money deal for Big Pharma, it also is a way to give people a little knowledge to talk with their drs.. to be more informed/proactive about what may or may not aid in their health. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe it’d bring costs down if we weren’t paying huge advertising bills? NAH…who am I kidding; costs will NEVER come down for US consumers lol
I work in health care and definitely the cost of pharmaceuticals sky rocketed when they became mass marketed. Like cigarette ads, it’s in the public interest to ban pharmaceutical adds!!
Same. I remember when these ads were first allowed. Never really thought about if they affect how I think about prescriptions, etc., nor have they yet sparked a convo with my various docs about anything. But, as Kaiser noted, it will be interesting to see if this is the thing that tanks RFK Jr’s prospective cabinet position–not his lunatic ideas about vaccines, or raw milk, or eating road kill, but taking away those lucrative advertising dollars.
I also remember the days before lawyers could advertise on TV. Got any prospective cabinet members who want to take that on?
This would be fantastic! I’m a Lefty and so far not all his ideas are bad ones.
Just the ones that will kill people and the crazy conspiracy theories. I’m with you, this is fine with me. But he’s a dangerous man and the poorest, weakest, youngest, oldest, and sickest will die.
And what is he going to do about the evil insurance companies? My parents have excellent, private insurance + medicare and they won’t pay for my Mom’s Parkinson drugs because there are “experimental.” Not true, been around forever, gold standard for those who have Parkinson’s. Also would not cover the meds my dad needed to keep his cancer at bay when he had to draw out his chemo treatments. 3k a pop, needed several doses. With his excellent coverage we were out nearly 20k in 3 months with all of the things that were not covered.
As much as I think RFK Jr is a danger to public health in America with his anti-vaxxer and pseudoscience nonsense, I do actually agree with him on this one. It’ll never happen and I still hate this idiot.
It’s prohibited to advertise for pharmaceuticals and hospitals in Canada. One of my fav aspects of living here.
Same in Europe.
Same in Australia and new Zealand
It’s actually fairly new in the US. There were no pharmaceutical ads on tv until the mid 80s, I think. I loathe this man, but I don’t think this is a bad idea.
I studied abroad freshman year in southern France and Spain in 2005 and we saw an ad on a bus stop in Madrid and noted it was the first ad we’d seen in 10 days. We stopped and marveled at it lol This was back in 2005 before we were glued to our phones too. It was so nice. I’m jealous to hear these ads are banned in other countries honestly
Yes indeed! It’s deeply weird that it is allowed.
I totally agree with this also. When these noxious ads started years ago, my husband insisted that this would bring down the cost of medications. I said “Are you kidding, they will sky rocket due to the cost of advertising.” I also am amazed that the long list of side-effects that are sped through at the end of the ads sound a lot worse than what the drugs are supposed to address. Case in point is that the side effects of the anti-depression drugs are “suicidal thoughts”. What a GREAT idea!
This is one of the areas in which I’m happy to live in the time of the internet–I could look up the possible side effects of what I’m prescribed. Sure, my doc can tell me, as can the pharmacist, but I like to read everything through, see it in print.
It wasn’t that long ago that it was prohibited here in the US. I worked for an ad agency in the early 90s that specialized in medical/pharma and direct to consumer advertising was not allowed in any form. Our ads were all in medical journals and the pharmaceutical companies had massive budgets to wine and dine doctors to entice them to prescribe. I moved away from that industry so didn’t really follow when/how it all changed, which was in the late 90s. I remember the floodgates opening so vividly.
I think, along with the incessant beer advertising that kids see when watching sports, these TV ads are a blight. I so I have no objection to them being banned and going back to the days where we weren’t begging doctors to prescribe what we saw on TV. A broken clock is right twice a day, after all, haha.
He’s a stopped clock, and this is his twice a day correctness
I work in Pharma (drug development) and I was appalled when the FDA reversed precedence and started allowing direct to public advertising of prescription medications. To be honest, everyone I worked with on the development side at the time thought advertising prescription meds is a horrible practice and, at least the more experienced of my colleagues, think banning direct to public ads would be a very good thing
That said, a lot of folks in Congress own stock and the GOP is very much against regulating any aspect of big business because profits matter more to them than people
I’ll believe it when I see it (or, rather, when I don’t see the TV ads). They’re all SAYING a lot of things right now, but I’m confident that everything they end up actually DOING will ultimately be driven by money, greed, and cruelty. The highest bidder or the most attractive quid pro quo will win every time. And occasionally they’ll throw their base a bone based purely on cruelty to keep them sated and onside. Big pharma has deep pockets and their own hungry agenda, and I assume that they will retain their ability to advertise on TV at any cost.
Marketing of prescription drugs is actually banned in Europe and this is a HUGE source of costs for pharma companies. It’s another reason why our drugs are so expensive. It’s not r&d, it’s marketing.
Mangos plans to dismantle the affordable care act, ss, medicare and medicaid will destroy healthcare in this country and many of the monopolies that have their hands deeply in tangerines pockets also thought they owned him. Banning the ads would be a good thing in most instances. How essential are most of the advertised meds versus the cost increase from the ad campaigns? The for-profit aspect of modern medicine is making it more expensive than most people can afford to recieve basic care. Generic commonly prescibed meds are having constant shortages because the drug companies are so focused on lining their pockets. RFK, Jr will be a fucking disaster in all other aspects.
A fascinating read is Empire of Pain, about the Sackler family, Oxycontin and the development of pharmaceutical advertising.
Excellent book. It was fascinating and I had a hard time putting it down.
Having a high incidence of chronic disease could indicate doing something right in that the people are living the disease and not buried somewhere. The US does have the highest incidence of heart disease, but I don’t see how not advertising drugs can help that. Maybe not advertising fast food and junk foods? Where would that end? And maybe do something about environmental pollutants if you want to get rid of chronic issues.
The ban of pharma ads is something that seriously needs to be done, especially for things that are prescription only.
We do allow some kinds of ads, OTC pain relief like (generic) Aspirin and similar meds, or for topical muscle relaxant creams, or other meds sold in drugstores.
(What enrages me more is seeing pharma ads in journals and papers for medical professionals, targeted at docs, like for antibiotics or the latest “designer” drugs — all the good, read more expensive, stuff trying to replace Ozempic etc, straining public health even more)
The first time I went to the US I was so shocked at the constant pharma ads on tv.
Now, do I think that people could be better educated on what medications are available to them and not just accept the first (cheapest) option offered as typically happens here in the UK? Yes, but I do not believe that advertising is the way to do it.
In Canada when you watch American stations on cable, you normally get an overlay of Canadian ads, especially for the major networks. However when you watch CNN and other non network stations, you get the full feed and that’s when I noticed how insane these pharma ads can be. Especially when the disclaimers of all the side effects are listed and those usually sound pretty bad.
It’s also bypassing doctors who usually have the medical knowledge to understand the real effects. And yes I know doctors get courted by pharma which is problematic too, but the random person on the street has no idea what any of these drugs do.
Exactly! These ads are not just misleading. They are deviously deceptive. For example, they are mandated by the government to list any and all potential side effects, some of which are often horrific. But while they do this, on screen they show actors looking healthy and joyful as they frolic and recreate, not a care in the world. These ads take full advantage of the fact that the human brain is hard wired to prioritize what is seen (happy, healthy people) over what it heard (this drug could kill you!).
@SarahCS, Nic919 and BrassyRebel, ITA.
I also wonder how much these ads work by power of suggestion – how many people see the ad, promising to remedy such-and-such symptoms, and talk to their doc about them and how they heard This Drug can help – but perhaps leave out other symptoms, etc., because they’ve already convinced themselves they have whatever This Drug promises to alleviate, so they focus on that – and whether/how often this might lead to misdiagnosis, etc.
That is my long-winded way of saying, I’m not sure it’s always in the general (non-healthcare specialist) public’s best interest to be the ones deciding which drugs are best for them, based purely on the flashiest or most memorable ads they see watching TV.
I’m also not convinced in the slightest that a ban on Big Pharma ads will translate to any price cuts for actual consumers/patients. These companies are already getting paid these exorbitant prices, so they know they can charge them, even if they no longer have to cover the cost of ads [in fact, I would bet that if this ban goes into effect, Big Pharma will use it to UP costs, claiming that without ads, they have fewer patients now], all while their profits increase from the literal billions they save in advertising.
It seems like the impetus behind any ban from the DT/Muskrat admin would be just to hurt news networks financially and force any that haven’t yet to bend the knee.
[Sorry, this is such a depressing comment. I still feel like I’m going to vomit whenever I think about all the harm coming in So. Many. Ways. over the next 4 years…]
American doctors also tend to prescribe the cheapest medication first, if only because that’s what insurance companies encourage. It’s only when the cheapest medication doesn’t work that doctors try the second cheapest, etc.
I was just saying to someone that his war on Big Pharma is going to create strange alliances. I’ve always disapproved of those ads. And Big Pharma is hugely problematic. Look at how easily the Sacklers manipulated the entire medical community. But RFKj is doing this for all the wrong reasons and Americans are also easily manipulated into believing pseudoscience. Vaccines save lives.
I agree being anti vaccine is stupidity. He’s a boomer and grew up with people getting and dying of polio and other preventable diseases so I don’t understand why he’s such an idiot.
I barely know anything about him, but he had a lot of childhood trauma, a drug habit, and a platform based on name recognition. I guess if you can’t be a true leader, be a freak.
So the blind squirrel found this one acorn and that’s the thing that could sink him? Actually, that tracks. Something that certainly should be considered will probably be a huge turn off for Senators in Big Pharma’s pocket. Yet, the good that pharma does, vaccines!, doesn’t make them side eye this lunatic who wants to drop them. We are truly living in the upside down.
Big pharma is an actual malicious agent in American healthcare and part of why insulin is priced 100x more in the states than Canada. Dr Frederick Banting, a Canadian, invented it after WWII and explicitly refused to get a patent because he believed a lifesaving drug should be accessible to all. So as there is no patent cost, there is literally only manufacturing costs to make this drug, which are minor.
So if they are doing this for a drug with is free, we can only imagine what they do for recent drugs where no one is selfless.
I made a typo. He invented it in the 1920s after WWI.
It’ll never happen. If they were going to do that they should ban beer and liquor ads too, but they won’t.
What would this solve?
Alcohol is a known carcinogen. If there is some sort of benefit to banning advertising of pharmaceuticals that can actually help people be healthy, why would we not also ban advertising of a substance that is proven to harm? I don’t think anyone will ban advertising of anything, just tired of all of the hypocrisy and fear-mongering over “big pharma”
I mentioned above that I think beer ads are a blight. Alcohol consumption is a big contributor to chronic health issues. Once I had kids, who enjoy watching sports, I realized how insidious the alcohol ads are, promising a glamorous and fun life that can only be achieved by drinking. And we wonder why college kids are binging in droves? It’s so gross.
I feel like it’s only recently that they have been open about saying alcohol is a carcinogen. Having grown up when tobacco was finally being acknowledged as a carcinogen it is actually kind of shocking how they downplayed that for alcohol.
It’s insane that America allows drug commercials, he’s 100% right about this.
Wow… Stopped clock. We should not be advertising drugs, anywhere—on any platform, in any medium.
I hate it when deranged people actually have a decent idea.
I was so disappointed when we adopted the US’s stance on pharma ads on TV.
I do think there should be easily accessible information on available drugs for different conditions but TV advertising isn’t that.
The ONLY good thing that comes from Big Pharma commercials is…BY LAW (🙏🏾 you POTUS CLINTON) they ALSO have to list their side effects which can and have saved lives…my Mama being one of them
I snort-laugh every time I see that picture of RFK Jr. on the plane with Trump and his cronies, because RFK Jr. is such a health food fanatic and has railed against the dangers of fast food, and yet he’s having to eat McDonald’s because he’s kissing Trump’s a**. His sickly smile looks like they just served him a dead gopher with toadstool sauce. Love that for him.
Health food fanatics don’t eat roadkill.
My husband was taking Skyrizi for a little while. It costs aboutc$18,000 a shot, four times a year. They have rebate programs that work for a while but then run out and insurance doesn’t cover it all. The cost is actually ridiculous but it does work. No prescription should cost $18,000 per refill.
I take Skyrizi — I had mild eczema that became full blown plaque psoriasis from the COVID vaccines ( yes, that was determined by my dermatologist, I would still take them again ) — My CO-PAY every three months is $5500. Abbvie picks up some of that, ,but no one should have a co-pay in the thousands.
My mother takes Prolia twice a year for bone health and her copay is $800 for that one with Humana.
Be careful. We were pretty much getting reimbursed and then all of a sudden the benefits reached a maximum without warning and we got stuck with a $4,000 bill.
$800 for a Prolia injection!!! Unbelievable! I’m so sorry to hear that. That’s terrible. Totally unacceptable.
I checked my records and I paid $9.02, nine dollars and two cents! for my last Prolia refill.
A pharmacist friend explained to me that in Canada, by law, pharmacies cannot do any mark ups on drugs. No mark ups. They charge a dispensing fee, and that’s their profit margin. That’s why drug stores sell all those other stuff, so they can stay in business.
Wow, just wow. Best of luck, y’all. I hope, at least, the Skyrizi provides some comfort.
Someone help us if we have to listen to that voice for the next 4 years
I wouldn’t bet on either side in the fight to get JFK Jr his cabinet post. There’s millions angered including scores of doctors who are willing to testify. Senators are already taking their case against him to the media, big Pharma will be at work in the background. Plus the Senate has already refused to rubber stamp some candidates.
My prediction: that during this administration, all RFK’s moves against Pharma are all going to get blocked. The Pharma industry will use lobbyists and donations to make sure their interests are protected.
Normally I’d cheer at ending drug advertising. But because RFK Jr is a dangerous maniac, I’m okay with the idea that he will be frustrated at the sickass schemes with which he tries to sicken the American public.
How about banning online gambling while you’re at it you putz which is just as dangerous and misinformative.
One thing at a time or his head will explode!
His best friend the television🤣Does RFK Jr sleep in his tanning bed, holy s***.
This really makes sense for that 🍊💩: Considering he has hawk cleaning product, horse de-worm med, etc. during COVID, so why should TV/Cable networks get the Big Pharma money? He would ban the TV ads & has the Big Pharma giving him the Bigly money to promote products himself.
And I doubt TV ads are the biggest promote for medication. Doctors are. That’s why Big Pharma reps always visit doctors’ office, selling their med (some even giving some kickbacks.)
Good! I hope he actually does. There is no reason for those advertisements to even be on TV.
Agreed! I despise the pharma ads. They either take perfectly good songs and ruin them forever, or come up with a harmony-laden choir that makes you want to rip your ears off (Wegovee!, anyone?). And all the detailed and graphic descriptions of possible side effects are just not necessary in a TV ad–leave that for the discussion with your doctor. I hate the pharma ads.
The US and New Zealand are the only 2 countries in the world to allow pharmaceutical advertising. It’s strictly print only in Nz though.