Telehealth Companies and Social Media Influencers May Face New FDA Laws

On February 20, 2025, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS) introduced bipartisan legislation, the Protecting Patients from Deceptive Drug Ads Act (the Act), which closes perceived “legal loopholes” in social media advertisements by telehealth companies. The Act would require the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to target false and misleading prescription drug promotions by social media influencers and telehealth companies.Whether or not telehealth companies are under FDA jurisdiction when marketing and promoting prescription drugs has been under debate since The New York Times published its 2019 article, Drug Sites Upend Doctor-Patient Relations: ‘It’s Restaurant-Menu Medicine’. The report called into question whether telehealth companies are — or ought to be — subject to FDA oversight when advertising drugs and medical devices.