The Trump administration is cracking down on advertisements for pharmaceuticals that appear to mislead consumers for the first time since drug advertising became legal nearly 30 years ago.
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has been sending out letters to companies they suspect of misrepresenting some drugs via online sites, social media and video, according to research by TV journalist Sharyl Attkisson.
Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency's Monique Whitney says it's about time, because consumers are poorly served when they can't be certain about the quality of the drugs they buy or the authenticity of the drugs' merchants.
"It's bad if what is happening is, you're exposed to ads and you are not getting the full benefit of the information, you're not being given the full list of side effects or you're being told to go to a website."
Another deceptive practice in many of the ads is use of the name FDA and the word "approved."
"The ads generically and very generally speak to certain high demand medications and then they imply what they've got, or they even say what they've got, is FDA approved and that's just not the case," Ms. Whitney says.
Trust in medical advertising extends to the companies that sell the drugs, so care in regulating such companies is increasingly important, given that the US is one of only two countries, along with New Zealand, that allow drug ads.
"Y'know, medication is not a place where you want to take a Buyer Beware kind of approach. Anything else, yes, but medicine -- not so much."