Editor’s note: This week, we’re reprinting some of our best stories from the past year. This piece, originally published in September, discusses the dangerous drug sold at gas stations across the country derived from kratom.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary says his agency is working to get ahead of what could be the “fourth wave” of the deadly opioid crisis by targeting a substance derived from the kratom plant that is being sold to young people in gas stations and vape shops all across the nation.
The concentrated compound, 7-hydroxymitragynine, known as 7-OH, is up to 13 times more potent than morphine, according to Makary. Deceptive marketing and easy access are helping fuel its spread, luring in an increasing number of young Americans.
“We can’t get caught flat-footed again,” Makary recently <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-9RKbVl_m8">warned</a>. “We got burned with fentanyl, we got burned with prescription drugs. We cannot get behind the eight ball again. This may be the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic. Concentrated, synthetic, 7-OH may be the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic.”
“7-OH, people need to know, is an opioid,” he emphasized. “You can walk down the street in almost any neighborhood in America and buy an opioid.”
The kratom plant is native to Southeast Asia. In its natural state, some people find it to have healthful and medicinal qualities. The FDA has made clear that it’s not focusing on the natural kratom leaf. They’re targeting concentrated and synthetic forms of kratom, or 7-OH.
At the end of July, the FDA recommended that 7-OH be classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, making it illegal to sell or possess. The agency says it’s an opioid that comes with significant health risks, including addiction and overdose.
Some people may not have even heard of kratom before, but they’ve likely seen kratom-derived 7-OH products in gas stations, corner stores, vape shops, or even online. Kratom, overall, is a billion-dollar industry in the U.S. – and it’s growing fast. In just a few years, the industry is expected to almost double in size.
7-OH is sold in a variety of forms, including powders, vapes, drinks, pills, and products that appeal to children, such as <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-steps-restrict-7-oh-opioid-products-threatening-american-consumers?utm_source=chatgpt.com">fruit-flavored gummies and even ice cream cones</a>.
<div id="attachment_967745" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-967745" class="wp-image-967745 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-530276352-864x576.jpg" alt=" In this photo illustration, a bottle with Kratom liquid and bags of capsules with the herbal supplement Kratom inside are seen on May 10, 2016 in Miami, Florida. " width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-530276352-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-530276352-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-530276352-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-530276352.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Joe Raedle/Getty Images</div>
These products are often inaccurately labeled concerning their 7-OH content, and can be disguised or marketed as merely the kratom plant. There’s also no federal age restriction on these products, though <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/kratom-targeted-crackdowns-states-cities-rcna166661">several states</a> now prohibit the sale of such products to minors.
As far as widespread harm, especially to young Americans, the data are mixed – or perhaps underreported, and too early to tell.
The CDC says there have been some overdose deaths associated with kratom products, but often other substances were also involved. There was also a <a href="https://project.tampabay.com/investigations/deadly-dose/kratom-overdose-deaths-florida-mitragynine-testing/">recent report</a> from the Tampa Bay Times that links kratom products to hundreds of deaths just in the state of Florida, over the past decade. Additionally, more and more anecdotal accounts of 7-OH-related addictions and deaths fill the web, though they remain unverified.
A toxicologist and emergency physician from Albany Medical Center, Dr. Alicia Tudor, believes kratom-related harms are being underreported, specifically regarding overdoses.
“I’ll see it in the emergency department and then probably more often in the addiction clinic that I work at as well,” Tudor <a href="https://cbs6albany.com/news/wellness-watch/ballston-spa-mother-advocates-for-kratom-regulation-after-sons-death-controlled-substance-legislation-bill-protest-overdose-toxicology">told</a> WRGB.
Toxicology tests are not always given when patients come in for an overdose, she said. “Then the results would come back, you know, weeks later, and at that point, the patient’s been discharged and doing better,” Tudor added.
<div id="attachment_967751" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-967751" class="wp-image-967751 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2228201310-864x576.jpg" alt="Cari Scribner with photos of her son, Nickolas, on Thursday, July 31, 2025, in her home Ballston Spa, NY. " width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2228201310-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2228201310-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2228201310-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2228201310.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jim Franco/Albany Times Union via Getty Images</div>
New York mother Cari Scribner wants action taken on these highly concentrated kratom products. Her 27-year-old son, Nickolas, died last year from what appears to have been a kratom-related death.
Scribner <a href="https://cbs6albany.com/news/wellness-watch/ballston-spa-mother-advocates-for-kratom-regulation-after-sons-death-controlled-substance-legislation-bill-protest-overdose-toxicology">says</a> her son started using the products to manage anxiety, depression, and insomnia, believing it was merely an “all natural herbal, energy, and health supplement.”
In a similar tragedy, Makary relayed the contents of a letter from a grieving stepfather of a young man who had finally quit addiction, only to purchase 7-OH without being aware of its contents.
“He called me on May 31 to tell me he had stopped at the vape shop to buy a vape and was offered a fruity pill, and was told that it was kratom,” Makary read the letter aloud. “He said that he took the pill and became addicted, and should have done his research. He died the night he took two 20 mg 7-OH pills. The wrapper was at his bedside. There were no other drugs or alcohol in the house.”
While kratom has been widely used in the U.S. for some time, concentrated 7-OH has only risen in popularity within the last five years. Ultimately, the FDA is moving to stop the substance from causing more widespread harm before it’s too late.
And it’s not just the FDA taking action. Florida is leading the way on the state level. Earlier this month, Florida AG James Uthmeier announced an emergency rule to classify 7-OH as a Schedule I controlled substance. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine has also <a href="https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/governor-dewine-calls-on-pharmacy-board-to-schedule-+kratom-compounds-as-illegal-drugs">urged</a> the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to designate synthetic and natural kratom compounds as illegal drugs. Additionally, a number of other states have moved to add age restrictions for 7-OH or limitations on concentrations of the compound.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is currently reviewing the FDA’s recommendation to effectively ban 7-OH.

Kratom

Best Of 2025: This Drug Is Sold in Your Gas Station. It May Trigger the ‘Fourth Wave’ Of The Opioid Crisis.

Drugs

Health

Prescription Drugs

U.S.

Perhaps the only thing Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on these days is that the pharmaceutical industry is bad. In particular, there has been bipartisan movement in recent years to ban direct-to-consumer drug ads, which are only permitted in the United States and New Zealand. Some supporters, like The Daily Wire&#8217;s Matt Walsh, have called these ads <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/all-the-reasons-why-big-pharma-commercials-should-be-banned">dangerous</a>.
But even those who don&#8217;t feel that strongly about the issue aren&#8217;t jumping up to defend these ads, which generally feature a bunch of shiny, happy stock-photo models dancing around while a narrator speed-reads through a list of side effects ranging from nausea to death.
In this provocative piece, Stephen Moore does just that. A noted economist and political commentator, Moore served as a senior economic adviser to President Donald Trump and was instrumental in crafting the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Moore not only argues that pharmaceutical ads help patients, but that banning them could have negative downstream consequences. We hope you enjoy. — Tim Rice
***
Chevrolet’s newest <a href="https://x.com/chevrolet/status/1993694235552595978?s=46" target="_blank" rel="noopener">holiday ad</a> is tugging at America’s heartstrings.
The spot follows a family’s classic Chevy Suburban through decades of memories — kids tumbling around the backseat, tearful college drop-offs, and that quiet, bittersweet moment when the house becomes an empty nest. The ad ends as the couple parks their old Suburban beside a shiny new one, welcoming their grown children and grandchildren home for the holidays.
It’s the kind of commercial American companies have long excelled at: emotionally evocative in all the right ways, tapping into nostalgia, family, and the warmth of the season — and, yes, selling a product. Holiday ads have become part of our cultural fabric. Think of Coca-Cola&#8217;s polar bears, or the Budweiser Clydesdales. These ads don’t just market products; they help set the tone for the season.
Ads like these may not survive if Washington continues down a troubling road of restricting TV commercials for politically unpopular — but legal — products. At the top of this list is pharmaceutical ads, which Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wants removed from the airwaves. In that fight he has an unlikely ally: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
This may seem like a rare instance of bipartisan cooperation. And in today’s political climate, dinging pharmaceutical companies is almost certain to prove popular.
But we already have strict advertising laws against including false or misleading claims in ads, and severe penalties for violations — and appropriately so. Banning pharmaceutical ads would be regulatory overkill, and could have negative consequences its advocates aren’t considering.
Contrary to what critics say, prescription drugs preserve life and improve health. Because of this, advertising can be a social good. An ad that makes people aware of a new drug’s benefits can literally save lives and alleviate suffering.
Some politicians and regulators say these ads only serve to artificially drive up demand. And they do drive up demand — for treatments that work. That’s a good thing.
Think about what would happen if we had a new wonder drug to help cure or stop the spread of breast cancer. Now imagine that the government prevented the pharmaceutical company from promoting this treatment to patients.
It could take months before patients get access to this miracle cure.
Plus, if lawmakers succeed in chipping away protections for advertisers, it will only empower future government censors. Imagine a future Democrat administration that wants to ban ads for gas-powered cars or disposable diapers in the name of “protecting the environment.”
Pharmaceutical ads may not be the most popular thing in the world. But that doesn’t change the fact that they have a real benefit — or the fact that banning them would do more harm than good.
Stephen Moore is a co-founder of Unleash Prosperity and a former senior economic advisor to President Donald Trump.
<div>
<section class="css-17g5ttu">
<div id="post-body-text" class="css-o2tmhu">
<div class="e1rjv97g0 css-1mqhe4y">
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
</div>
</div>
</section>
</div>

Prescription drugs

Bernie Sanders’s Latest Crusade Could Kill Your Favorite Christmas Commercials

advertising

Bernie Sanders

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Televison

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed on Friday that toxic cough syrups linked to children&#8217;s deaths in India had not been shipped to the United States.
The World Health Organization has said India has a &#8220;regulatory gap&#8221; in screening locally sold syrup medicines.
The U.S. FDA said it was aware of news reports of devastating, ongoing diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol contamination in children&#8217;s cough and cold medicine in India.
Indian authorities advised the public to avoid two more brands of cough syrup on Wednesday following the deaths of 17 children under age five, linked to a toxic ingredient.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout</a>
The children died in India over the past month after consuming cough medicine containing toxic diethylene glycol in quantities nearly 500 times the permissible limit, officials said. The deaths were all linked to the Coldrif medicine brand, which was banned after a test confirmed the presence of the chemical on October 2.
India&#8217;s health authority, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, informed the U.S. regulator that these products were not exported from India to any other country, the FDA said.
The FDA also said it remains vigilant to prevent contaminated drugs from entering the U.S. and asked manufacturers to ensure that drugs marketed in the U.S. are safe and of the highest quality.
(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)

Cough Syrup

Cough Syrups Linked To Child Deaths Not Shipped To U.S., FDA Makes Clear

India

World

President Donald Trump unveiled a deal with U.K.-based drugmaker AstraZeneca on Friday under which the company will sell some medicines at a discount to the government&#8217;s Medicaid health plan in exchange for tariff relief, similar to a drug pricing pact reached last week with Pfizer.
The deals set a framework the White House will use to try to reach its goal of lowering U.S. prescription medicine prices. The president sent letters to 17 leading drugmakers in July telling them to slash prices. Pfizer and Astra are the first two companies to reach a deal with the administration.
AstraZeneca will also offer some of its drugs at up to 80% off their list price through the TrumpRx website planned for next year, CEO Pascal Soriot said at an event in the Oval Office.
He said the company will receive a three-year tariff exemption &#8220;to localize the remainder of our products.&#8221;
U.S. patients currently pay by far the most for prescription medicines, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations, and Trump has been pressuring drugmakers to lower their prices to what patients pay elsewhere or face stiff tariffs.
Last month, Trump threatened 100% tariffs, ratcheting up pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to agree to price cuts and shift manufacturing to the U.S., after negotiations broke down earlier this year, lobbyists and executives told Reuters following the Pfizer deal.
More than 70 million people are covered by Medicaid, the state and federal government program for low-income people. Drug spending in that program is dwarfed by that of Medicare, which covers people aged 65 and older or those with disabilities and is not included in Friday&#8217;s announcement.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout</a>
Medicare&#8217;s drug spending reached $216 billion in 2021, while Medicaid&#8217;s gross spending was around $80 billion.
The Medicaid program already receives the lowest drug prices in the U.S., so the additional savings may be modest, said Craig Garthwaite, a professor at Northwestern University&#8217;s Kellogg School of Management.
&#8220;If you look at AstraZeneca&#8217;s portfolio, I don&#8217;t think there are a bunch of drugs that exist where that&#8217;s going to involve them giving a very big discount to Medicaid,&#8221; Garthwaite said.
AstraZeneca&#8217;s Pfizer‑like deal may spare it tariffs, but will not move the needle on U.S. rising health insurance premiums and out‑of‑pocket drug costs, said Rena Conti, an associate professor at Boston University.
&#8220;It&#8217;s good for the companies, and has very uncertain if any benefit for Americans struggling with the affordability of prescription drugs,&#8221; Conti said.
Soriot has worked to keep his company close to Washington while pursuing its growth strategy.
AstraZeneca in July announced it will invest $50 billion in U.S. manufacturing and research and development by 2030. It will build its biggest site worldwide in Virginia, and expand facilities in five other U.S. states.
In September, the company announced it will sell its diabetes and asthma drugs direct to cash-paying U.S. patients at a discount of up to 70% off list prices, another move in response to Trump&#8217;s pressure campaign.
Soriot this year has played up the company&#8217;s U.S. credentials. He described the Anglo-Swedish firm as a &#8220;very American company,&#8221; highlighting its identity shift toward its largest market. AstraZeneca will list its shares in the United States as well as its current markets in the UK and Europe.
(Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington and Michael Erman in New Jersey; Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington, Maggie Fick in London, Patrick Wingrove in New York and Mariam E Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)

Donald Trump

Trump Announces U.S. Drug Pricing Deal With AstraZeneca

Economy

Health Care

Pfizer

U.K.

White House

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it has launched a new pilot program to speed up the review process for generic drugs that are tested and manufactured entirely in the United States.
The program is designed to encourage companies to invest in domestic drug production and research by offering faster approvals for products made with U.S.-sourced ingredients and tested within the country.
Earlier this week, the FDA held a public meeting to discuss its broader efforts to support U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing, including the PreCheck program, which aims to help set up high-priority drug facilities more quickly.
The FDA said these steps will help strengthen the U.S. drug supply chain and bring high-quality, U.S.-made generic drugs to market more quickly.
More than half of the pharmaceuticals distributed in the United States are made overseas, according to the health regulator.
As of 2025, only 9% of companies that produce the key ingredients in drugs &#8211; known as active pharmaceutical ingredients &#8211; are based in the U.S., compared to 22% in China and 44% in India, the FDA said.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout</a>
&#8220;Over-reliance on foreign drug manufacturing and testing creates risks both to national security and patient access, and undermines investments in U.S. research, manufacturing and production,&#8221; said George Tidmarsh, Director of FDA&#8217;s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
&#8220;It also slows down reviews and costs taxpayers more money,&#8221; he added.
The FDA also noted many important studies used to approve drugs &#8211; including tests to show that generic drugs work the same as brand-name ones &#8211; are now often done outside the U.S., which is weakening the country&#8217;s ability to lead in drug research and development.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

FDA Launches Pilot Program To Fast-Track Review Of Generic Drugs Made In U.S.

Trump Administration

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that popular medications will be offered at massively discounted prices — known as &#8220;most-favored-nation&#8221; prices — as pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer commits to a $70 billion investment to manufacture drugs in the U.S.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
President Trump: &#8220;All new medications introduced by Pfizer to the American market will be sold at the reduced, most favored nation cost.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/S2CQxh7PKC">pic.twitter.com/S2CQxh7PKC</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1973055450980503972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
A new website, called TrumpRX, will allow Americans to purchase drugs directly from the government rather than going through insurance. Virtually all drugs will be discounted on TrumpRX, the White House said.
Pfizer stepped up with a $70 billion investment, a shift toward making drugs in the U.S., which the Trump administration has addressed as a national security issue. 
The company is also offering all medications to Medicaid at most favored nations prices &#8212; which are prices comparable to or less than the cost of other nations&#8217; drug prices. Additionally, all new medications will be offered at most-favored-nation prices.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout</a>
Dermatitis medication, for example, will be discounted by 80% &#8212; and that refers to the net price, which is what consumers are actually paying. Meds for post-menopausal osteoporosis, which is extremely common, will be discounted by 85%. Migraine medication and rheumatoid arthritis drugs will be discounted by 50% and 40%, respectively.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT: President Trump Delivers LOWER DRUG PRICES for Americans <a href="https://t.co/nA4tPrmcXt">pic.twitter.com/nA4tPrmcXt</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1973062430591692829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
Health officials, including Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, emphasized that research and development will not stop, but instead, will no longer be funded by only American citizens while the rest of the world benefits.
Makary, for instance, called the changes the &#8220;end of the great American ripoff.&#8221; He noted that drug price offsets will be directed to developed nations like France, Germany, and the U.K.
&#8220;Today marks the end of the great American ripoff, and it also marks the beginning of the end of a great American tragedy, something I’ve seen as a physician at the bedside — patients getting spun up into a financial rage &#8230; to try to get enough money to pay for a drug &#8230; a drug that&#8217;s five or ten times more expensive than the same drug in France or Germany or the U.K.,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/DrMakaryFDA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DrMakaryFDA</a>: &#8220;Today marks the the beginning of the end of the great American rip off, and it also marks the beginning of the end of a great American tragedy; something I’ve seen as a physician at the bedside — patients getting spun up into a financial rage&#8230; to try to get… <a href="https://t.co/SD0iKsZR2B">pic.twitter.com/SD0iKsZR2B</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1973063636395373048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is the administrator of the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS), echoed the sentiment, noting that the administration is &#8220;protecting medical advances for the future, while at the same time securing the drug prices Americans want, today.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/DrOzCMS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DrOzCMS</a>: &#8220;In July, President Trump demanded that manufacturers make a firm commitment to lower their prices “or else.” Last week, we made a major breakthrough. Protecting medical advances for the future, while at the same time securing the drug prices Americans want today.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/56dvAt1OHi">pic.twitter.com/56dvAt1OHi</a>
— HHS.gov (@HHSGov) <a href="https://twitter.com/HHSGov/status/1973065918897881436?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
Trump announced his &#8220;most favored nation&#8221; pricing plans at the end of July, promising to end &#8220;global freeloading&#8221; by other developed nations. The president suggested he would use tariffs and all other &#8220;tools&#8221; available to make sure all companies provide Americans with most-favored-nation prices.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-signs-order-to-reduce-drug-prices-tells-rest-of-world-to-pay-up">Trump Signs Order To Reduce Drug Prices, Tells Rest Of World To Pay Up</a>

‘End Of Great American Ripoff’: Trump Makes Major Drug Price Announcement

Executive

Politics

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Tuesday evening that it&#8217;s cracking down on deceptive pharmaceutical ads, issuing thousands of warning letters and about 100 cease-and-desist notifications.
“For far too long, the FDA has permitted misleading drug advertisements, distorting the doctor-patient relationship and creating increased demand for medications regardless of clinical appropriateness,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said in a statement. “Drug companies spend up to 25% of their budget on advertising. Those billions of dollars would be better spent on lowering drug prices for everyday Americans.”
A press release from the agency said current law requires pharma ads to &#8220;present a fair balance between a product’s risks and benefits; avoid exaggerating benefits; not create a misleading overall impression; properly disclose financial relationships; and include information regarding major side effects and contraindications.&#8221;
That rule, which the FDA did not adequately enforce during the Biden years, will be &#8220;aggressively&#8221; enforced now, the release says. Additionally, the FDA is closing the “adequate provision” loophole created in 1997, which companies have used to &#8220;conceal critical safety risks in broadcast and digital ads, fueling inappropriate drug use and eroding public trust.&#8221;
Television ads are not the only promotional content being scrutinized and regulated. Social media posts, which often feature an influencer talking up the drug, rarely mention &#8220;potential harms,&#8221; or they fail to disclose that the influencers are being paid.
&#8220;[W]hile 100% of pharmaceutical social media posts highlight drug benefits, only 33% mention potential harms,&#8221; the FDA said, citing a 2024 review in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research. &#8220;Moreover, 88% of advertisements for top-selling drugs are posted by individuals and organizations that fail to adhere to the FDA fair balance guidelines.&#8221;
In the thousands of letters sent to drug companies, the FDA warns, &#8220;You are hereby directed to remove any noncompliant advertising and bring all promotional communications into compliance.&#8221;
&#8220;This notice also serves to demand compliance with the [Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic] Act and FDA implementing regulations and requires companies to remove any and all DTC (direct-to-consumer) prescription drug advertising that violates the law,&#8221; the letter adds.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. &#8212; the head of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the FDA &#8212; has long been a critic of Big Pharma ads. He said in a statement issued Tuesday that &#8220;pharmaceutical ads hooked this country on prescription drugs.&#8221;
&#8220;We will shut down that pipeline of deception and require drug companies to disclose all critical safety facts in their advertising,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Only radical transparency will break the cycle of overmedicalization that drives America’s chronic disease epidemic.”
While Kennedy was running for president in 2024, before he endorsed President Donald Trump, he said he would &#8220;issue an executive order banning pharmaceutical advertising on television.&#8221;
&#8220;We are one of only two countries in the world that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to consumers on television,&#8221; RFK Jr. said on X in 2024. &#8220;Not surprisingly, Americans consume more pharmaceutical products than anyone else on the planet.&#8221;

Great American Farmers Market 2025

Trump FDA Announces Major Crackdown On ‘Misleading’ Pharma Ads

Big Pharma

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to announce that use of Kenvue&#8217;s popular over-the-counter pain medication Tylenol in pregnant women is potentially linked to autism, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, without including evidence for the claims.
Kennedy, in the report, will also suggest a medicine derived from folate called folinic acid can be used to treat symptoms of autism in some people, the WSJ reported.
Shares of Kenvue fell 14% after the report. Tylenol, whose active ingredient is acetaminophen, is a widely used pain reliever, including by pregnant women.
Kenvue said in a statement that it believes there is no causal link between Tylenol use during pregnancy and autism. The company advises expecting mothers to speak to healthcare professionals before taking OTC medications, including Tylenol.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and leading medical organizations agree on the safety of acetaminophen, its use during pregnancy, and the information provided on the label, the company said.
Kennedy has promised to find the cause of autism and has long suggested it is related to vaccines. He has also said it must be related to an &#8220;environmental toxin.&#8221; Decades of science have yet to establish a definitive cause.
Under Kennedy, the National Institutes of Health is running an Autism Data Science Initiative that aims to mine large datasets to investigate possible contributors to autism and evaluate the outcomes of existing treatments. Researchers have submitted more than 100 proposals to participate in the $50 million study, with a list of up to 25 grant winners expected to be announced by the end of September, people with knowledge of the plans told Reuters.
The WSJ said that a report is likely to highlight how low levels of folate, an important vitamin, and Tylenol taken during pregnancy, could be a potential cause of autism.
&#8220;What&#8217;s striking to me is that this report is supposed to uncover all these new causes, and so far, all we&#8217;re learning is that they&#8217;re rehashing existing research,&#8221; said Dr. David Mandell, a professor of psychiatry and autism expert at the University of Pennsylvania.
&#8220;We have no understanding of why there might be a biological reason that Tylenol would cause autism.&#8221;
In December 2023, a U.S. federal judge struck a blow to hundreds of lawsuits claiming Tylenol can cause autism if mothers take it during pregnancy, barring expert witnesses from testifying after finding they lacked scientific evidence for their claims.
Last August, citing that ruling, the judge dismissed all the cases in federal court. A U.S. appeals court is slated to hear arguments next month in an appeal of that ruling, court records show.
&#8220;We are using gold-standard science to get to the bottom of America’s unprecedented rise in autism rates. Until we release the final report, any claims about its contents are nothing more than speculation,&#8221; said an HHS Spokesperson.
Children&#8217;s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group formerly headed by Kennedy, has posted several times in recent weeks on social media site X about the potential link between Tylenol and autism.
Brian Hooker, chief scientific officer of CHD, said in a recent video posted on X that he expects Kennedy&#8217;s autism report to hit on Tylenol, but also vaccines and vaccine components.
CHD has cited a study published in August that found evidence of an association between use of acetaminophen by pregnant women and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism in their offspring.
The scientists recommended medical guidelines advise that pregnant women use the lowest possible dose for the shortest time needed.
They noted that more studies were required to confirm any association and that failure to treat fever in pregnant women could lead to other fetal problems, such as neural tube defects.
Other studies have not found a link. A 2024 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association involving 2.4 million children born in Sweden found no evidence to support a causal link.
&#8220;There is no clear evidence that proves a direct relationship between the prudent use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and fetal developmental issues,&#8221; said Christopher Zahn, chief of clinical practice for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
(Reporting by Michael Erman in New Jersey and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago, Additional reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru and Nancy Lapid in Tucson; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Aurora Ellis)

RFK Jr. To Link Tylenol Use In Pregnancy To Autism, Says Wall Street Journal

Department of Health and Human Services

Wall Street Journal

Following the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gavin-newsom-mocks-prayer-after-catholic-school-shooting?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Gavin+Newsom+Mocks+Prayer+After+Catholic+School+Shooting">deadly shooting</a> at Annunciation Catholic Church by a transgender-identifying 23-year-old, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed rabid gun control calls and focused on the &#8220;health crisis&#8221; behind mass shootings.
&#8220;I certainly consider mass shootings a health crisis,&#8221; Kennedy <a href="https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1961159049866846589">said</a> on Thursday. &#8220;And we are doing, for the first time, real studies on what the ideology of that is, and we&#8217;re looking, for the first time, at psychiatric drugs.&#8221;
&#8220;People have had guns in this country forever,&#8221; the secretary continued. &#8220;When I was a kid, we had shooting clubs at our school. Kids, my classmates, and other people would bring a .22 rifle with their guns to school and park in the parking lot. Nobody was shooting up schools.&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s never been a time in the history of humanity where people walked into a crowd, or a church, or a movie theater, or a school, or a crowd of strangers and just started randomly shooting,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s happening in our country, it&#8217;s not happening around the world. And there are many other countries that have comparable levels [of] guns that we have in this country &#8212; we had comparable levels in the &#8217;40s, &#8217;50s, and &#8217;60s and people weren&#8217;t doing that. Something changed, and it dramatically changed human behavior.&#8221;
&#8220;One of the culprits we need to examine is the fact that we&#8217;re the most overmedicated nation in the world, and a lot of those are psychiatric drugs that have blackbox warnings on them that warn of suicidal and homicidal ideation,&#8221; Kennedy added. &#8220;We are doing those studies right now for the first time, and we will have an answer.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨 JUST IN: RFK Jr. launched a FULL INVESTIGATION into the meds the trans Minneapolis shooter was using
“There’s never been a time in America… where people walk into a crowd or a church or a movie theater or a school and just start randomly shooting.”
“SOMETHING changed, and… <a href="https://t.co/GSSPMfhTpr">pic.twitter.com/GSSPMfhTpr</a>
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1961159049866846589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
Kennedy has previously noted that HHS will look into the effects of psychiatric drugs and how they are being prescribed. Back in February, the secretary listed SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) and other psychiatric drugs as a potential contributor to our national health crisis.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
“Whatever belief or suspicion I have expressed in the past, I’m willing to subject them all to the scrutiny of unbiased science,&#8221; RFK said at the time. “That is gonna be our template: unbiased science.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
HHS Secretary RFK Jr. pledges “NOTHING is gonna be off limits” in chronic disease investigation
“The childhood vaccine schedule, electromagnetic radiation, glyphosate, other pesticides, ultra processed foods, artificial food additives, SSRI and other psychiatric drugs, PFAs,… <a href="https://t.co/kWV2LHuqTG">pic.twitter.com/kWV2LHuqTG</a>
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) <a href="https://twitter.com/Holden_Culotta/status/1891888695185375248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
The use of SSRI drugs among teenagers and adults in the U.S. has increased by almost 400% from the early 1990s to 2006, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-enter-panic-mode-as-rfk-sets-out-to-make-america-healthy-again">The Daily Wire</a> previously noted. By 2014, one in ten adults had an SSRI prescription, before there was another 35% increase from 2015 to 2021, totaling tens of millions of prescriptions.
Still, the number of Americans suffering from depression has continued to spike. “The percentage of U.S. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime reached 29.0%, nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015,&#8221; a 2023 Gallup poll found.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-research-finds-antidepressants-may-cause-emotional-blunting">New Research Finds Antidepressants May Cause ‘Emotional Blunting’</a>

RFK Jr.

RFK Jr Dismisses Gun Control Calls, Will Examine Psych Drugs In Mass Shooting ‘Health Crisis’

Mass Shooting

School Shooting

Major retailer Costco has decided against selling abortion pill mifepristone at its 500+ pharmacies across the nation, sparking praise from pro-life activists.
Costco joins other major retailers, like Walmart and Kroger, in refusing to sell the life-ended pill, which has been marred by controversy over its safety for women.
<div class="text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD" data-testid="paragraph-2">&#8220;Our position at this time not to sell mifepristone, which has not changed, is based on the lack of demand from our members and other patients, who we understand generally have the drug dispensed by their medical providers,&#8221; Costco <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/costco-not-sell-abortion-pill-mifepristone-its-us-pharmacy-stores-aug-14-2025-08-14/#:~:text=By%20Reuters,File%20Photo%20Purchase%20Licensing%20Rights">said</a> in a statement on Thursday.</div>
<div class="article-body__element__2p5pI" data-testid="element">
<div class="divider-container-module__container__MpXC- default divider-container-module__max-width__KpWSo" data-testid="ResponsiveAdSlot">
A top legal mind at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a legal organization aimed at protecting religious freedoms, called the news a &#8220;huge win.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;Huge win: Costco said NO to distributing deadly Chemical Abortion Pills,&#8221; ADF&#8217;s Jeremy Tedesco posted to X. &#8220;No business case. No shareholder upside. Just ideology—and it failed.&#8221;
</div>
</div>
&#8220;Kudos to [Costco, Walmart, Albertsons, &amp; Kroger] for protecting shareholder value over activist demands,&#8221; he added, referring to the companies&#8217; decision to refuse to sell mifepristone.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Huge win: <a href="https://twitter.com/Costco?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Costco</a> won’t cave to activist pressure to turn stores into abortion pill dispensaries.
No business case. No shareholder upside. Just ideology—and it failed.
Credit to <a href="https://twitter.com/inspireadvisor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Inspireadvisor</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryLeeBowyer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JerryLeeBowyer</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/AMACforAmerica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AMACforAmerica</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/SFOF_States?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SFOF_States</a> &amp; other fiduciary trustees who…
— Jeremy Tedesco (@Jeremy_Tedesco) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jeremy_Tedesco/status/1955978533508956184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
Pro-lifers were quick to praise the move by Costco, while also calling out other major pharmacies, like CVS and Walgreens, which do sell the controversial drug.
<div class="css-175oi2r r-xoduu5">&#8220;[Walgreens &amp; CVS Pharmacy] should follow Costco’s lead and immediately stop trafficking in the deaths of children. The FDA must pull its approval for this lethal drug!&#8221; activist Lila Rose said on X.</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING: <a href="https://twitter.com/Costco?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Costco</a> will NOT sell the deadly abortion pill!<a href="https://twitter.com/Walgreens?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Walgreens</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/cvspharmacy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cvspharmacy</a> should follow Costco’s lead and immediately stop trafficking in the deaths of children.
The FDA must pull its approval for this lethal drug!
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) <a href="https://twitter.com/LilaGraceRose/status/1956051853592158262?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<div>Kristan Hawkins, of Students of Life, wrote, &#8220;This is what winning looks like.&#8221;</div>
&#8220;Students for Life has worked hard to call on pharmacies to reject these dangerous drugs,&#8221; Hawkins wrote. &#8220;Great to see 500+ pharmacies truly living up to their slogan, &#8216;Simplifying Home and LIFE.&#8217; Protecting moms, protecting babies.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WIN: Costco said NO to distributing deadly Chemical Abortion Pills. <a href="https://twitter.com/StudentsforLife?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StudentsforLife</a> worked hard to call on pharmacies to reject these dangerous drugs.
Great to see 500+ pharmacies truly living up to their slogan: “Simplifying Home and LIFE.” Protecting moms, protecting… <a href="https://t.co/l5vFWLPbme">pic.twitter.com/l5vFWLPbme</a>
— Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/KristanHawkins/status/1956065604911423723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
The safety of mifepristone has become a key issue in the fight over abortion and women&#8217;s safety. As highlighted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fda-chief-commits-to-full-review-of-abortion-pill">The Daily Wire</a>, the pill, which is usually followed by misoprostol, aims to end the life of the unborn baby and expel it from the woman’s uterus. However, the drugs sometimes fail to expel all the fetal tissue, which can cause life-threatening complications.
An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abortion-pill-22-times-more-dangerous-than-fda-claimed-new-study-says?author=Mairead+Elordi&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Abortion+Pill+22+Times+More+Dangerous+Than+FDA+Claimed%2C+New+Study+Says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> released in April found that more than one in 10 women experienced a “serious adverse event” after taking the mifepristone abortion pill in 2023. This can include hemorrhaging, needing a blood transfusion, an emergency room visit, and even deadly conditions like sepsis.
That is about 22 times higher than what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) listed on its label for the brand Mifeprex in 2023. The FDA <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2023/020687Orig1s025Lbl.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited</a> clinical studies saying less than 0.5% of women suffered “serious adverse reactions” to mifepristone.
In June, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary committed to reviewing the pill.
“As the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, I am committed to conducting a review of mifepristone and working with the professional career scientists at the Agency who review this data,” Makary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fda-chief-commits-to-full-review-of-abortion-pill">wrote</a> in a letter to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). “As with all drugs, FDA continues to closely monitor the postmarketing safety data on mifepristone for the medical termination of early pregnancy.&#8221;
Mairead Elordi contributed to this report.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-1-in-20-women-need-second-abortion-attempt-after-abortion-pill-fails">More Than 1 in 20 Women Need Second Abortion Attempt After Abortion Pill Fails</a>

US-RETAIL-COSTCO

Costco Won’t Sell Abortion Pill, Rebuffing Abortion Activists

Costco Won't Sell Abortion Pill, Rebuffing Abortion Activists

Abortion

Costco

Pro-Life Movement

Social Issues

ICE arrests the family of the Colorado illegal alien terror suspect as the Trump administration rounds up 1,500 illegal immigrants in another sanctuary state. Drug giant CVS could be closing all of its pharmacies in Arkansas due to a first-in-the-nation law targeting pharmaceutical middlemen. And the FTC probes whether a dozen major advertising and watchdog groups illegally coordinated to blacklist platforms.
It’s Wednesday, June 4, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here: 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Illegal Immigrant Terror &amp; Lowering Drug Prices" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tqAe_rGGNek?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/illegal-immigrant-terror-lowering-drug-prices-6-4-25/id1576594336?i=1000711132840" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2>Immigrant Terror Rising?</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-928913" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_20_08.Still001.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_20_08.Still001.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_20_08.Still001-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: Immigration enforcement continues to ramp up as the Trump administration prioritizes criminal and national security threats.
Senior Homeland Security officials <a href="https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/1929955057421738215">told Fox News&#8217;s Bill Melugin</a> on Tuesday that federal authorities have arrested the immediate family of the Boulder terror suspect, Mohamed Soliman. Sources say the family is “being processed for expedited removal.”
The arrest came a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a general policy of expected removal for immigrants with ties to terrorists. “All terrorists, their family members, and terrorist sympathizers here on a visa should know that under the Trump administration we will find you, revoke your visa, and deport you.”
Meanwhile, in South Carolina, a group of <a href="https://abcnews4.com/news/state/six-illegal-migrants-charged-in-murder-of-sc-woman-defies-any-sense-of-decency">illegal aliens</a>, ranging from just 13 years old to 21, were recently arrested in connection with the brutal murder of Larisha Thompson. She was driving down the road when she was fatally shot. Authorities have charged six illegal aliens of uncertain national origin in connection with the murder. Investigators on the scene found evidence linking the firearm used in the attack to a <a href="https://wach.com/news/local/six-arrested-in-death-of-sc-woman-all-wanted-by-immigration-officials-larisha-sharell-thompson-lancaster">recent burglary</a>. An individual fired at a security camera while burglarizing a gas station convenience store. The SWAT team raided the home of the 21-year-old. The six illegal aliens have each been charged with murder, attempted armed robbery, and second-degree burglary.
And ICE has announced nearly 1,500 arrests in Massachusetts, a sanctuary state. Of those arrested, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/ice-massachusetts-raids-todd-lyons-boston/">790 illegal aliens</a>, more than half of them, had criminal records or pending charges. Patricia Hyde, the acting director of the Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston Field Office, explained that Massachusetts’s sanctuary state policies force immigration enforcement agents to go into the community rather than simply pick up illegal aliens from jails.
<h2>Drug Middleman Crackdown</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-928917" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_04.Still003.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_04.Still003.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_04.Still003-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: A first-in-the-nation law takes on pharmacy benefit managers, the drug middlemen both sides of the aisle have blamed for inflating prescription drug prices.
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) act as middlemen between drug manufacturers, insurance companies, and pharmacies – and by extension, patients. They negotiate with drug companies and pay pharmacies for filing prescriptions. In theory, they’re supposed to lower costs for Americans. However, over the last decade, PBMs have consolidated – now just three companies oversee prescriptions for more than <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/21/business/prescription-drug-costs-pbm.html">200 million Americans</a>. They’ve been accused by both Republicans and Democrats of inflating prices for their own benefit and driving small pharmacies out of business.
A new Arkansas law, Act 624, bans PBMs from holding permits for prescription drug sales. In response, pharmacy giant CVS has said it might have to close all 23 of its pharmacies in Arkansas. CVS owns one of the Big Three PBMs, called Caremark. CVS has also <a href="https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/05/29/express-scripts-sues-arkansas-over-new-law-banning-pbms-from-owning-pharmacies">filed suit</a> against the state to prevent the law from going into effect – Express Scripts, another of the Big Three, has also sued the state.
“PBMs [are supposed] to negotiate better drug prices between the insurance companies and the pharmacies,” Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) told The Daily Wire. “But what was actually happening is the pharmacies were buying the PBMs and completely controlling and monopolizing the market. We call ‘em drug middlemen because that’s exactly what they are. They’re over-inflating prices and passing that inflation down to the consumer. … You had three of the largest PBMs in the country controlling 80% of the pharmaceutical market – complete control allows them to charge more.”
Sanders told The Daily Wire that this law is intended to help small pharmacies keep their doors open and criticized CVS for its response. “It shows where their priorities are. They would rather own the PBM than keep their pharmacy open and provide care to the patients they claim to care about. … I&#8217;m all for private industry making money, but not on the backs of the people who really need access to care.”
About a month after Gov. Sanders signed the act into law, President Donald Trump targeted PBMs with an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/05/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-announces-actions-to-put-american-patients-first-by-lowering-drug-prices-and-stopping-foreign-free-riding-on-american-pharmaceutical-innovation/">executive order</a>. The order encourages direct consumer purchases, cutting out the middlemen, and mandates more pricing transparency. Sanders said this momentum is building across the country and told The Daily Wire that she hopes consumers will have more access and see lower prices for prescription drugs once this law goes into effect next year.
<h2>FTC Probes Ad Collusion</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-928915" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_22.Still002.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_22.Still002.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_22.Still002-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating Media Matters and about a dozen other groups for allegedly pushing advertisers to boycott social media platforms over controversial content.
The FTC is probing whether Media Matters and these other groups violated antitrust law by mobilizing advertisers to boycott platforms like X – to prevent their ads from appearing next to content deemed controversial. The commission is also targeting Ad Fontes Media, which rates media outlets’ biases, investigating the group for “possible collusion.”
Some of the groups that are under investigation help brands choose where to place ads across the internet, and some of the groups, like Media Matters, call out so-called “hateful content” online. More than a dozen organizations are under investigation, and lawyers for the groups said the FTC requested broad information about their business practices.
“I’m concerned about advertiser collusion,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwAPMhdq5c4">said</a> last week. “If you’ve got an idea and you want the world to know it, you need eyeballs. … You talk online, and advertisers advertise next to what you’re saying, and they make money off of that, but if advertisers are getting into a back room somewhere and agreeing, &#8216;we’re not going to advertise next to that guy’s speech,&#8217; right, that is a real problem, and it is a form of concerted refusal to deal that the antitrust laws have long prohibited.”
Ferguson also argued that the FTC’s investigation was nonpartisan – while he agreed that conservatives were disproportionately being targeted, the same principle would apply to progressive speech. “I don’t think anyone on the Left would be comfortable with the idea of a bunch of large businesses getting into a back room and saying, &#8216;hey, whenever anyone says anything favorable about abortion, we’re not advertising next to that, right?&#8217; I don’t think the Left would like that any more than the Right would like the idea that such collusion could be affecting their speech.”
X CEO Elon Musk sued Media Matters in 2023 over this issue, accusing the leftist group of trying to stop advertisers from purchasing ads on X. That lawsuit is ongoing.

Thumbnail Final

Morning Brief: ICE’s Anti-Terror Offensive And The Crackdown On Prescription Drug Middlemen

Arkansas

Colorado

Federal Trade Commission

Media

Morning Wire

Americans have waited long enough, and now real relief from sky-high prescription drug prices is finally here. Recently, President Donald J. Trump signed a landmark Executive Order to end the decades-long injustice that has forced American families — especially Hispanic households — to pay more for lifesaving medications than almost anyone else in the world.
Hispanics, who are more likely to be uninsured or underinsured compared to other groups, are disproportionately burdened by high out-of-pocket prescription costs. In fact, according to the CDC, nearly one in four Hispanic adults report not taking prescribed medications due to cost, compared to just 13% of non-Hispanic White adults. This Executive Order directly addresses that disparity by demanding lower drug prices and making medications more affordable and accessible for millions of working families across the country.
This bold order reaffirms the President’s unwavering commitment to putting American patients first by stopping foreign free-riding, crushing the stranglehold of pharmaceutical middlemen, and bringing fairness back to a rigged system.
Under President Trump’s leadership, America is no longer the world’s piggy bank for pharmaceutical giants and socialized healthcare systems abroad. This Executive Order directs the U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce to hold foreign nations accountable for the unfair practices that underpay for prescription drugs and undermine lifesaving drug development. In essence, Americans — who fund the bulk of pharmaceutical innovation through our taxpayer dollars and higher prices — have been subsidizing socialism abroad. No more.
For many Americans across the U.S., especially those economically impacted by high healthcare costs, this Executive Order is a game changer. Families working long hours, often balancing multiple jobs, should not have to choose between buying insulin for their children or groceries for the week. President Trump’s directive ensures that low-income patients, seniors, and working-class Americans will now have direct access to the same steep discounts that pharmaceutical companies give to patients overseas through government-negotiated prices.
That means bypassing the costly middlemen and securing medicines at “most-favored-nation” prices that reflect the best deal given to any other country in the world. If drug manufacturers refuse, the Order empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to act decisively: impose these pricing standards through regulation and take additional aggressive steps to drive costs down. This is what America First leadership looks like.
Let’s not forget: President Trump has been down this road before. In his first term, he introduced bold reforms to ensure that Medicare would no longer overpay pharmaceutical companies — specifically, by requiring that prices for Medicare-covered drugs be no higher than those paid in comparable countries. These common-sense measures were rescinded by the Biden-Harris Administration before they could take effect. The result? A so-called “victory” for Medicare that actually left American taxpayers and seniors paying an average of 78% more for prescription drugs than patients in eleven other advanced nations. That’s not a win — it’s a disgrace.
Now, in his second term, President Trump is finishing what he started. This new action builds upon earlier victories, including transparency in hospital pricing, the push for generics and biosimilars, and expanded drug importation options. These initiatives are part of a comprehensive, America First healthcare agenda focused not on enriching bureaucracy, but on empowering patients.
For those disproportionately affected by chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and asthma, this move provides tangible economic relief. It ensures families can access the medicine they need to stay healthy. It means hardworking Americans can afford care without risking financial ruin. And it signals that forgotten communities are no longer overlooked — they are being heard and prioritized.
We should also be clear: this isn&#8217;t just good policy. It’s great politics. President Trump is showing the American people that he’s not afraid to stand up to entrenched interests to deliver real results. He’s not beholden to Big Pharma, nor is he willing to play nice with foreign governments who exploit our generosity while we suffer at home.
In an era where politicians too often offer empty promises and soaring rhetoric, President Trump delivers. His commitment to reforming healthcare pricing is not just about economics—it’s about justice. And make no mistake: justice is exactly what millions of Americans, especially those in underserved communities, have been demanding for years.
President Trump said it best: “Our citizens pay massively higher prices than other nations pay for the same exact pill, from the same factory.” That ends now.
This is more than an Executive Order. It’s a promise fulfilled, a burden lifted, and another bold move in President Trump’s mission to restore prosperity, fairness, and dignity to the American people.
* * *
Bobby Jindal is the former Governor of Louisiana and Chair of the Center for a Healthy America at America First Policy Institute.
Jorge Martinez is National Director for Hispanic Outreach for America First Policy Institute. He previously served as press secretary for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Menu