JEFF CHILDERS

Yesterday, Politico ran a terrific story headlined, “Trump announces crackdown on pharmaceutical advertising.” It’s the first shot HHS is firing against Big Pharma.

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The phrase “death by a thousand cuts” comes from the Chinese term lingchi, which is literally translated both as “slow slicing” and “lingering death.” Lingchi was a gruesome form of torture and execution practiced in China all the way from the 10th century until it was banned in 1905. During the ‘procedure,’ executioners would slowly and methodically cut off parts of the condemned person’s body over a long period until they finally expired.

? Back in the old days of digital entertainment —about three years ago— the Childers family signed up for several streaming services, for convenience and selection, yes, but mostly to avoid TV commercials. Lately, we’ve noticed a disturbing trend of commercials creeping back even in the streaming shows, which sort of defeats the whole point. And last week, while I was watching the latest episode of Alien Earth on Hulu, I pressed “mute” when the ads started— and the video paused.

In short: Hulu won’t even let us mute the ads anymore! Even on a paid subscription! It’s basically criminal. Or it should be, if it isn’t. One wonders whether we should make lingchi legal again. But I digress.

The point is, at least half the ads were for drugs. Honestly, over a handful of episodes, I’ve learned more about various awkward body parts and rare conditions that I ever cared to know. Plus oddly named compounds to ask your doctor about for treating “overactive” bladder (um), erectile bending, and even sadness, as well as incomprehensible ailments like chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. According to the ads, if you take the drugs, you’ll hallucinate happy, glowing butterflies that flitter around and help you forget all about your corkscrewed weiner condition.

Most of the ads included upbeat descriptions of scary side effects like “serious infections,” “uncontrolled blinking,” “hotdog fingers,” “incontinence,” “risk of suicide,” and “sometimes fatal reactions,” while the screen shows blissfully unworried healthy people dancing, playing sports, or strolling on beaches at sunset. Very diverse people, too.

The ads are so over-the-top ridiculous that they are practically hallucinogenic. You have to take drugs to understand the ads.

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? These big-budget ads are designed specifically for us. Only two countries in the entire world —New Zealand and the U.S.— allow direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs. “Research,” Politico said, “shows that direct-to-consumer advertising increases the number of drugs prescribed by doctors.” You don’t say. What would we do without research?

Yesterday, President Trump signed an order directing HHS and the FDA to close what Politico called the “adequate provision loophole” in drug advertising. The current policy lets drugmakers omit many drug risks in ads, as long as the ads direct consumers to more information, such as by providing a website address.

Not anymore. “We plan to take regulatory action to change that loophole and to close it,” a senior administration official said.

Even better, and more fascinating, HHS had it all ready to go on the same day as the announcement. “Today, we will be sending out approximately 100 cease and desist enforcement letters and thousands of warning letters, warning companies that we plan to enforce these regulations that are currently on the books,” the official explained.

But here was the weirdest thing: Politico’s story never quoted a single negative source: not any trade groups like PhRMA, patient advocacy organizations, free speech activists, medical experts, or legal analysts who challenged the policy’s practicality or even its legality under the First Amendment.

That omission spoke volumes. The tide is turning, at least a little.

This apparently minor move to enforce existing ad regulations —coupled with thousands of official warning letters— isn’t as innocuous as it may seem at first. It lasers right into the heart of a vast web of interconnected financial interests— involving so many billions of advertising dollars that streaming services have dared to reintroduce ads into popular shows.

The requirement to include all known side effects in ads may make most pharma ads impractical or useless, thereby effectively banning them.

So we can begin to see the outlines of Secretary Kennedy’s strategy. He’s not recklessly engaging in a single, dramatic legislative showdown with Big Pharma. Instead, he’s unveiling a lingchi strategy— death by a thousand pharmaceutical cuts. This move suggests he’s cutting off the easy, low-hanging fruit first.

The Overton Window has shifted so far that nobody is even trying to defend pharma’s ads anymore. We’re all sick to death of them— and everybody knows it. (They need a drug to treat that.)

I sent this link the very funny slick Finish Comedian Ismo to JC

This is the funnies short stand up piece I have ever seen but OH so true ….must see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px_6ta4bMw8#ddg-play