ANA Joins Letter Opposing Pharma Ad Threat

Earlier this week, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) filed an amendment to the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act that would eliminate the advertising costs deduction for pharmaceutical companies. We believe this sort of advertising restriction faces serious First Amendment challenges as it threatens the commercial speech rights of companies to reach their consumers in a truthful way.

In response, ANA and other advertising industry groups have sent a letter to members of the Senate Finance Committee opposing the amendment. The letter, sent from The Advertising Coalition (TAC), explains that, beyond the implications for freedom of speech, a financial penalty for prescription drug advertising could cause consumers to receive less information about potential new lifesaving medications. ANA was a founding member of TAC.

ANA also is pushing to make sure protections for the full deductibility of advertising expenses for all of our members are maintained in both the House and Senate versions of the tax reform package. The multifaceted threats these tax efforts pose would not only hurt the U.S. economy, but they could also stifle commercial speech for years to come.

ANA will continue to fight to make sure that these misdirected attacks do not pass and cause irreparable harm to our industry and the U.S. economy.