The White House’s crackdown on one of radio’s top revenue drivers is entering a new phase, but regulatory experts warn drugmakers won’t stay quiet as FDA scrutiny on pharmaceutical ads ramps up, raising questions about the vertical’s future.
President Donald Trump’s memorandum last month directed agencies to require fuller disclosure of risks in drug ads, closing a 1997 loophole that let companies point viewers to websites for side-effect information. That order has already triggered cease-and-desist letters and thousands of warnings, including scrutiny of online pharmacies and influencer promotions.
Regulatory attorney Edgar Asebey told Pharmacy Times that while the FDA’s move is framed as tightening existing rules, the industry sees it differently.
“Pharmaceutical companies have done what the FDA permits them to do. Now, there has been, in my opinion, lax enforcement of the five criteria that became part of the final rule,” Asebey said. He expects firms to challenge the new standards: “I think pharmaceutical companies will exert some pushback because they have attempted to be compliant. I believe some will push back and say, ‘We are compliant with this.’”
At the same time, Asebey said companies will tread carefully to preserve their regulatory relationships. “Pharmaceutical companies – and anyone regulated by the FDA – want to have a good relationship with the agency. So I believe they are going to take these warning letters seriously. They will make the necessary adjustments, and when the new rules come out, they will seek to be compliant with those rules as well.”
For radio, the stakes remain high. Pharma has grown into network radio’s top advertising category, accounting for $151 million in AM/FM spend by 2022 and topping Media Monitors’ national rankings during peak weeks this year. If ads are forced into longer, disclosure-heavy formats, some drugmakers may scale back their broadcast buys rather than redesign campaigns.
Asebey said the FDA is still in the “warning letter stage,” but the direction is clear: “Right now, we are not seeing penalties issued. This is the warning letter stage, or the untitled letter stage, which gives companies an opportunity to come into compliance. I think most companies will take that route.”
That window of adjustment may also be the moment when pharmaceutical companies press their case in court and in Washington, shaping whether stricter oversight becomes permanent or temporary.
