# 119-s-652: Protecting Patients from Deceptive Drug Ads Act

119-s-652, Protecting Patients from Deceptive Drug Ads Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-652
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-652
- Congress: 119
- Title: Protecting Patients from Deceptive Drug Ads Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-20
- Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Curbing deceptive prescription drug promotion on social media and through telehealth.** This bill would let the FDA penalize influencers and certain health care actors for knowingly or recklessly false or incomplete online claims, require new payment reporting, and boost FDA monitoring of digital drug promotion. - Patients and families: Posts that promote covered prescription drugs would need to include the brief summary of side effects, contraindications, and effectiveness like traditional prescription ads, aiming to give consumers clearer safety information. - Health care providers and social media influencers: Influencers and providers who receive payment to promote covered drugs would face civil penalties for knowingly or recklessly false or materially misleading statements. Those payments must be reported and publicly disclosed under existing drug-payment reporting rules. - Manufacturers, telehealth platforms, and regulators: The bill would expand who counts as a drug "manufacturer" to include entities that connect patients and prescribers electronically, require updated telehealth rules within 1 year, and direct the FDA to use AI surveillance, hire staff, and form a joint FTC-FDA task force. *Authorizes $15.0 million per year for fiscal years 2025–2029 to fund FDA market surveillance and related activities.*

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS] (R-KS), 2025-02-20T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- FDA social-media drug ad monitoring: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would let HHS and FDA monitor prescription drug promotion on social media. The agencies could use AI tools, hire staff, and form a joint FDA–FTC task force. Congress would be asked to fund $15 million each year for 2025 through 2029 to carry out this work.
- Public reporting of drug promotion payments: benefit, medium. If enacted, payments tied to promoting drugs paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP would be reported and posted publicly under the Open Payments program. That includes drug company payments to providers or influencers and provider payments to influencers. A 'covered drug' is any drug for which pa…
- Fines for deceptive drug posts: cost, medium. If enacted, social media influencers and some health care providers could face civil fines for false or misleading posts about certain prescription drugs. The rule would apply when the communicator gets paid and either makes knowingly or recklessly false statements or omits a required short safety…
- Telehealth platforms face ad rules: cost, medium. If enacted, online services that place drug ads and connect patients to prescribers would be treated like a drug's manufacturer for advertising rules. That could subject telehealth companies and referral platforms to stricter ad and safety‑summary requirements. Private messages between a clinician…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-3597: National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026
- 119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-1552: Living Donor Protection Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-652 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/652)

## Related
- [119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5071)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-3597: National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3597)
- [119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4504)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-1552: Living Donor Protection Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1552)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-652 (as of 2026-04-21).