New Executive Order on Drug Ads Omits a Key Influence

By Kasia Mulligan, Patients Come First’s National Spokesperson

What would you do if you saw an ad claiming that the medication you take daily is dangerous? Would you stop taking it immediately, risking your health—or would you talk to your doctor first?

Unfortunately, many patients are choosing fear over facts. Misleading advertisements, driven by trial lawyers, are putting lives at risk by encouraging people to abandon essential treatments without medical guidance. In 2024, over $2.5 billion was spent on 26.9 million legal service ads nationwide. The odds of you seeing even just one of these ads are extremely high, as they have infiltrated our daily TV schedules and programming.

The Administration’s recent Executive Order (EO) targets direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads from pharmaceutical companies, but this oversight rings hollow if the Administration overlooks an even more harmful issue: plaintiff attorney advertising. These ads frequently exaggerate medication risks, leave out critical information, and mislead patients about the causes of their conditions.

New polling shows that not only are consumers seeing these ads, but they are convincing Americans that the medications and medical devices they rely on are unsafe. In fact, 66.4 percent of people surveyed believe these ads make patients unnecessarily fearful about their medications. These ads claim to “warn” patients about everyday prescriptions, but the reality is, they’re often misleading and trick people into reducing their dosage or stopping medication altogether, leading to serious and sometimes fatal health risks.

The goal isn’t to protect patients’ health and well-being, but to drive mass lawsuits against drug manufacturers and medical innovators, with little regard for the impact on public health. The American Medical Association (AMA), amongst other groups, has even raised concerns that lawsuit ads from medical law firms can harm patient health by overstating risks and belittling the importance of trusting the true medical professionals: our doctors.

Misleading legal services ads continue to flood our screens, pushing Americans to question science and challenge their doctors. The polling also found that those surveyed overall believe these ads are extremely exaggerated and, as a result, a majority are very or somewhat likely to stop taking their medications after seeing an ad from a law firm warning about a medication.

As a result, patients may abruptly stop essential treatments—sometimes without ever speaking to their physicians—placing their health in serious jeopardy. Rather than guiding people toward real solutions, these ads push them away from appropriate medical care.

Litigation has become more about enriching lawyers than protecting patients. Misleading legal services ads not only instill fear in patients but also create hesitation among drug developers. These ads turn into frivolous lawsuits that ultimately divert resources away from research and development and discourage investment in innovation, slowing the development of new treatments.

At a time when the pharmaceutical industry already faces growing disincentives, fear-based advertising adds fuel to the fire. Developers are less likely to invest time and money into creating new treatments if they risk being targeted by misinformation and unnecessary lawsuits. Patients, especially living in rural areas with fewer treatment options, ultimately suffer when progress stalls and promising care is delayed or never reaches them. When innovation is threatened, so is patient health—and in some cases, their lives.

States like Florida, Texas, and Louisiana have taken important steps to combat misleading legal services ads by enacting legislation that prioritizes patient safety and assesses how they affect patients' health outcomes. Florida specifically decided to prohibit advertisers from using terms like “health alert” to falsely imply their ads are a public service announcement. This aligns with public opinion, as 87.2 percent of people believe these ads should be required to include a clear statement urging patients to consult their doctors before stopping their medication.

Read thew full op-ed in RealClear Health here.