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Pharmaceutical ads in the U.S.: Top questions answered

The Administration's order and what can actually be done

Katelyn Jetelina's avatar
Aaron Kesselheim's avatar
Katelyn Jetelina and Aaron Kesselheim
Sep 10, 2025
∙ Paid

Pharmaceutical ads in the United States are annoying. Absurd. And almost uniquely American.

In fact, only one other high-income country in the entire world—New Zealand—allows prescription drug companies to advertise directly to consumers. Everyone else has decided the downsides aren’t worth it. So why hasn’t the U.S. stopped them?

From the get-go, RFK Jr.…

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Aaron Kesselheim's avatar
A guest post by
Aaron Kesselheim
Director, Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomcis, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
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