Senators target false prescription medication marketing on social media with new bill

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday to confront the sale and misleading promotion of prescription drugs by telehealth firms and social media influencers.

The Protecting Patients from Deceptive Drug Ads Online Act would impose civil penalties on social media influencers or health care providers who make false or misleading claims regarding prescription drugs.

Under the bill, false or misleading communications are those made on social media in which the person or entity making them benefits financially, knowing that the claims are false; that don’t include information about possible side effects or interactions; and that lack statements backed by medical research or describe their own personal experiences.

The bill would also enact reporting requirements on payments made by drug manufacturers to health care providers, telehealth firms and social media influencers

The bill was first reported on by The Wall Street Journal, whose reporting was part of what spurred the drafting of the legislation, according to Senate sources who spoke with the outlet.

In February, Durbin and Braun called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to crack down on misleading social media ads for prescription drugs.

“Studies show that patients are more likely to ask their provider for a particular medication and to receive a prescription if the patient has seen a direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisement for the drug. This can inflate demand for medications that may not be clinically appropriate, or for which alternative interventions may be available,” the senators wrote in a letter to the agency.

They noted at the time that the FDA had not updated its guidance on drug promotion over social media in a decade. While the FDA regulates direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements distributed across television, radio and print, the agency has faced criticisms for not paying the same level of attention to advertisements made on websites and social media platforms.