Senate Democrats are advocating for the End Taxpayer Subsidies for Drug Ads Act, legislation that would prohibit pharmaceutical drug manufacturers from claiming tax deductions for consumer advertising expenses.
The bill, announced Friday, was initially co-authored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). Advertising expenses by pharmaceutical drug manufacturers have more than quadrupled over the past two decades, they say, rising from $1.3 billion in 1997 to $6 billion in 2016. During that same time period, advertising from drug companies increased from 79,000 ads to 4.6 million, including 663,000 TV commercials. “Economists have estimated that nearly one third of the growth in drug companies’ spending can be attributed to the increase in advertising for prescription drugs,” a statement by the two senators says.
