The big picture: President Trump also signed a memorandum directing Kennedy to enforce transparency on pharmaceutical advertising, including increasing the amount of information in the ads about risks of using the drugs.

Zoom in: In addition to the cease-and-desist letters to companies that it says have “deceptive ads,” the FDA said in a statement that it’s sending “thousands of letters warning pharmaceutical companies to remove misleading ads.”

• And officials said they’re moving to close a “loophole” that allowed drug ads to “footnote vital information” by redirecting consumers to websites and other sources for full details about pharmaceutical products, per a statement from HHS and FDA.

Between the lines: Because Trump doesn’t have authority to ban drug ads, he seems to be trying to make it “death by disclosure and rulemaking” that may not survive legal challenges, wrote Raymond James analyst Chris Meekins in a note.

• Companies will have to decide whether to sue and risk blowback from the administration in areas like Medicare drug price negotiations, he added.

More here

from STAT:

Apple’s watch update may increase demand for hypertension drugs

Apple unveiled a new feature of its smartwatch yesterday that notifies users they may have high blood pressure.

The tech giant didn’t detail the feature in depth, but said that an algorithm works in the background and the watch alerts people if it detects patterns of high blood pressure over a 30-day period.

Apple has repeatedly added heart health features to its smartwatch, but critics note that screening a large population for disease will potentially flag many people who do not have conditions, causing anxiety and increasing health care costs.

Over time, this feature could lead more patients to seek out hypertension treatments. Apple said it expects to notify over 1 million people in just the first year.

Read more from STAT’s Mario Aguilar.