Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said President Donald Trump’s new executive order requiring pharmaceutical companies to list all the side effects of the drugs they sell could result in four-minute commercials that will likely force them to spend far less money on TV advertising.
Network and cable news outlets will be hurt the most by this shift, since drug commercials comprise a whopping 24.4 percent of evening ad minutes on those platforms.
“The order basically reinstates — or gives us now the opportunity to reinstate — the 1997 rules,” Kennedy told Fox News on Tuesday. “Prior to 1997, pharmaceutical advertisers were required to put all the side effects on their ads.”
As a result, many drug companies chose not to air TV commercials at all, Kennedy recounted.
In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration changed its rules to allow drug companies to report side effects on a website or by phone, easing the barrier to entry for TV marketing.
After 1997, RFK Jr. said, “They only had to report a few of [the side effects] on television, and that triggered a proliferation of these ads.”
HOLEE SHIZZLES‼️
BIG PHARMA now has to list ALL side effects on Pharma Ads — RFK Jr says this will Now FORCE Pharma companies to decide if they want to run a 4 minute ads or not.
This is Mission accomplished!
This is the NEXT BEST thing next to banning them completely from… pic.twitter.com/uq4A79LDpP
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) September 9, 2025
Kennedy, a health and fitness fanatic, said removing the detailed disclosure requirements in 1997 led Americans to believe there’s a pill for every ailment.
This led to a lack of personal accountability for their health, he said.
“But you have to follow your heart. Believe that you have a unique group of talents and abilities that are going to allow you to accomplish something in an area that interests you. Work at that and try to make some kind of contribution to your community.
-Robert Kennedy, Jr. pic.twitter.com/khsbEvX4cv
— Ryan (@ryan__calder) June 24, 2023
However, pursuant to Trump’s new order, Big Pharma is “gonna have to report all their side effects,” Kennedy said.
“In some cases, that might create an advertisement that’s four minutes long,” he warned.
A four-minute commercial will be the death knell of TV advertising, because consumers simply don’t have the patience to sit through such a long ad. As a result, many drug companies will likely stop advertising on television.
For reference, pharmaceutical companies spent over $10 billion on drug advertising in 2024 — $5 billion of which was spent was on TV ads, per Wisconsin Watch. The other half was spent on radio, print, streaming, and online ads.
Big Pharma’s massive ad spend on TV news programs creates an insidious incentive for the media to ignore drug companies’ wrongdoings because they don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them.
Top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the world
1. 🇺🇸 Eli Lilly (LLY) – $578.3B
2. 🇩🇰 Novo Nordisk (NVO) – $452.8B
3. 🇺🇸 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) – $377.7B
4. 🇺🇸 Merck (MRK) – $263.9B
5. 🇺🇸 AbbVie (ABBV) – $261.2B
6. 🇨🇭 Roche (ROG.SW) – $222.4B
7. 🇬🇧 AstraZeneca (AZN) – $212.2B
8.…— Logic Universe (@LogicUniv) September 4, 2025
Kennedy said the new disclosure requirements will help consumers make better-informed decisions about their health.
On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order aimed at increasing transparency in drug advertisements.
“These ads can mislead the public about the full risks and benefits of a drug, encourage medicine over lifestyle changes, and inappropriately intervene in the relationship between a patient and physician,” the executive order read.
Should big pharma have always been required to tell the whole truth about its drugs?
The move is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to overhaul drug and food marketing in the United States.
In August, Trump signed an executive order urging drug companies to stop price-gouging American consumers.
Americans pay 300 to 400 percent more than people in other countries for the exact same drug—often made in the same U.S. factory. No American should face bankruptcy over the cost of medication. I’m grateful to @POTUS for prioritizing the campaign to lower drug prices. pic.twitter.com/KMLhgCt021
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) July 8, 2025
Accordingly, the president outlined steps that 17 of the leading drug companies must take to lower prescription drug prices for Americans — including matching the lowest price offered in other developed nations.
“There is no reason American consumers should pay exorbitantly more than other countries for the same drug in the same packaging and manufactured in the same factory,” Trump wrote.
Whether or not you agree with Trump’s EOs, it’s undisputed that Big Pharma needs a major wake-up call and a massive overhaul.
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