By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, federal health officials are taking aim at telehealth companies promoting unofficial versions of prescription drugs — including popular weight loss medications — as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on pharmaceutical advertising.

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday posted more than 100 letters to various drug and online prescribing companies, including Hims & Hers, which has built a multibillion-dollar business centered around lower-cost versions of blockbuster obesity injections.

The FDA warned the company to remove “false and misleading” promotional statements from its website, including language claiming that its customized products contain “the same active ingredient” as FDA-approved drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. The formulations cited by regulators are produced by specialty compounding pharmacies and aren’t reviewed by the FDA.

“Your claims imply that your products are the same as an FDA-approved product when they are not,” states the warning letter, dated Sept. 9.

San Francisco-based Hims said Tuesday that it “looks forward to engaging with the FDA.”

“Our website and our customer-facing materials note that compounded treatments are not approved or evaluated by the FDA,” the company said in a statement.

It’s the first FDA attempt to directly police online platforms like Hims, which have long argued they’re not subject to traditional drug advertising rules.

A memo signed by President Donald Trump last week directed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the FDA to ensure that pharmaceutical ads on TV, social media and other websites are “truthful and non-misleading.” As part of the initiative, the FDA promised to send 100 letters to companies with deceptive ads.

The new FDA letters each contain “cease and desist” language. That’s a different approach for the agency, which typically drafts its letters in highly bureaucratic language citing specific FDA regulations.

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Hims has been under scrutiny from Washington for months.

Earlier this year, a Super Bowl ad from the company touted the benefits of its weight-loss medications but didn’t list any of their side effects or potential harms. FDA rules require advertisements to present a balanced picture of drug risks and benefits.

Makary singled out the ad in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, calling it a “brazen” example of how advertising is “contributing to America’s culture of overreliance on pharmaceuticals for health.”

Hims and similar companies initially sold cheap generic versions of drugs for hair loss, erectile dysfunction and other health issues. But booming demand for obesity medications opened the door to selling cheaper copies.

The FDA permits so-called compounding, or customized production, when there is a shortage of the official versions of FDA-approved medications.

FDA recently determined that the GLP-1 drugs no longer met the criteria for a shortage. That should have ended the compounding, but there is an exception: The practice is still permitted when a prescription is customized for the patient.

Hims and other companies have taken to offering “personalized” dosages and formulations for certain patients, arguing they offer extra benefits.

The letters posted Tuesday come from FDA’s drug center.

A letter posted last week from FDA’s vaccine division took issue with a TV ad for AstraZeneca’s FluMist vaccine, saying the spot’s “background music and visual distractions” detract from information about side effects. The letter was signed by FDA vaccine chief Dr. Vinay Prasad, an ally of Kennedy who recently returned to his job at the agency after briefly being forced to step aside.

Researchers and consumer advocates have long complained that the upbeat TV images of patients enjoying life with family and friends often overshadow discussions of side effects.

Additionally, studies have shown that patients exposed to drug ads are more likely to ask their doctors about the medication, even if they don’t fit the prescribing criteria. The American Medical Association, the nation’s largest physician group, came out in support of a ban in 2015, citing TV advertising’s role in “inflating demand for new and more expensive drugs.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a late-night vote and last-minute ruling, the Federal Reserve began a key meeting on interest rate policy Tuesday with both a new Trump administration appointee and an official the White House has targeted for removal.

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Stephen Miran, a top White House economist who was confirmed by the Senate with unusual speed late Monday, was sworn in Tuesday as a member of the Fed’s board of governors. He will vote on the Fed’s interest rate decision on Wednesday, when the central bank is expected to reduce its key rate by a quarter-point. Miran may dissent in favor of a larger cut.

Also attending the meeting is Fed governor Lisa Cook, whom the Trump administration has sought to fire in an unprecedented attempt to reshape the Fed, which historically is considered independent of day-to-day politics. An appeals court late Monday upheld an earlier ruling that the firing violated Cook’s due process rights. A lower court had earlier also ruled that President Donald Trump did not provide sufficient “cause” to remove Cook.

Stephen Miran testifies during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on his nomination to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, on Capitol Hill Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

With both officials in place, the Fed’s two-day meeting could be unusually contentious for an institution that typically prefers to operate by consensus. It’s possible that as many as three of the seven governors could dissent from a decision to reduce rates by just a quarter-point in favor of a half-point. That would be the first time since 1988 that three governors have dissented. Economists also say that one of the five regional Fed bank presidents who also vote on rates could dissent in favor of keeping rates unchanged.

On Tuesday, the White House said it would appeal Cook’s case to the Supreme Court, though did not specify when.

“The President lawfully removed Lisa Cook for cause,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said. “The Administration will appeal this decision and looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hanging around their record heights on Tuesday as the countdown ticks toward what Wall Street expects will be the first cut of the year to interest rates by the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1%, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 131 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was virtually unchanged.

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Stocks have run to records on expectations that the Fed will announce the first of a series of cuts to rates on Wednesday afternoon in hopes of giving the economy a boost. The job market has slowed so much that traders believe Fed officials now see it as the bigger danger for the economy than the threat of higher inflation because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The Fed has been holding off on cuts to rates because inflation has remained above its 2% target, and easier interest rates could give it more fuel.

A report on Tuesday said shoppers increased their spending at U.S. retailers by more last month than economists expected. A chunk of that could simply be due to shoppers having to pay higher prices for the same amount of stuff. But it could also indicate solid spending by U.S. households could continue to keep the economy out of a recession.

The data did little to change traders’ expectations for a cut to interest rates on Wednesday, followed by more through the end of the year and into 2026.

Such high expectations have sent stocks to records, but they can also create disappointment if unfulfilled. That’s why more attention will be on what Fed Chair Jerome Powell says in his press conference following Wednesday’s decision than on the decision itself. Fed officials will also release their latest projections for where they see interest rates and the economy heading in upcoming years, which could provide another potential flashpoint.

For now, global fund managers are tilting their portfolios toward stocks at the highest level in seven months, according to the latest survey by Bank of America. That’s even though a record 58% of them are also saying that stocks look too expensive at the moment.

On Wall Street, Oracle rose 2.9% on speculation that it could be part of a deal that would keep TikTok operating in the United States.

Steel Dynamics was another winner and climbed 5.1% after it said it’s seeing improved earnings across its three business units. It credited strong demand for steel from the non-residential construction and auto industries, among other things.

Chipotle Mexican Grill added 1.2% after its board said the company could buy back an additional $500 million of its stock. Such a move can send cash directly to investors and boost per-share results.

On the losing end of Wall Street was the Dave & Buster’s entertainment chain, which fell 16.9% after it reported a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Ralph Lauren sank 2% and got a tepid reception to the unveiling of its long-term financial plan, which it titled “Next Great Chapter: Drive.” As part of it, the company said it expects compounded annual growth over the next three years for revenue to be in the mid-single digit percentages.

New York Times Co. fell 2.9% after Trump filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the newspaper and four of its journalists on Monday. The lawsuit points to several articles and a book written by Times journalists and published in the lead up to the 2024 election as “part of a decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump.”

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following a mixed showing in Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.3% to finish at another record. The rally comes despite political uncertainty after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he is stepping down. An election within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to pick a new leader is expected Oct. 4.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.03% from 4.05% late Monday.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

By JAMIE DUCHARME

During the winter of 2024, Rachel Martin came to a startling realization: She spent most of her free time staring at screens. “I couldn’t really think of hobbies or things that I did that took a break from the digital world,” she said.

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With pastimes like watching television, playing video games and creating digital art, Martin, 33, sometimes spent more than 12 hours per day looking at screens. She longed for an analog alternative.

After some trial and error, she found one: journaling with fountain pens and specialty inks. “It’s quite a cool tactile experience,” she said, and one that unexpectedly turned social when she started attending meetups for fountain pen enthusiasts in her city of Sydney, Australia.

“It’s something that I definitely didn’t expect to love,” she said, “but that actually really helped me with going (mostly) screen-free.”

Martin had extra motivation for avoiding devices — she has chronic migraines, and screens are a trigger for her — but many people share her goal.

Adopting a new hobby can be an effective way to get a break from screens. (Martin is even looking into selling her TV.) And as an added bonus, enjoyable pastimes can reduce stress and improve mental and physical health, research suggests.

Finding a screen-free hobby that sticks, though, can be easier said than done. Here’s where to start:

A mix of enjoyable activities is fine

Some people feel pressured to find the “ideal” hobby that will perfectly optimize their free time — but there’s no such thing, said Sarah Pressman, a professor of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine who has studied leisure time.

“Having a mix of small enjoyable activities — a little bit of pickleball, cooking something new, chatting with a friend over coffee, spending some time in your garden — can have a cumulative effect on your mood and health,” she said. “So rather than putting pressure on yourself to find the perfect pastime, just ask, ‘What brings me a little joy today?’”

Similarly, hobbies don’t have to fill hours upon hours of time to be beneficial, said Matthew Zawadzki, an associate professor of psychological sciences at the University of California, Merced who has studied hobbies.

Start small by thinking about activities that would be fulfilling for 20, 10 or even five minutes at a time.

“We really need to embrace small engagements with our leisure,” he said, particularly given how many other demands there are on our time.

A pastime may not reset your life, “but instead it’s going to reset the next hour,” Zawadzki said.

Try lots of things

Cast a wide net.

“Test out a few activities for 30 minutes each and just notice how they make you feel,” Pressman said. “Think of it like dating. You may have to go on a few first dates before you find your match.”

Think about how activities you loved as a child could be adapted for adulthood, or about things that you naturally lose track of time while doing, she suggested.

It can also be helpful to consider what you’re missing, or want more of, in your daily routine, Zawadzki said. If you feel too sedentary, try a new form of fitness. If you need to get out of your head, pick up an engrossing book. If you feel starved for social connection, join a club or volunteer. If you haven’t used your creative muscles in a while, pick up a paintbrush.

“It’s about being more intentional about how you use your time,” Zawadzki said.

Ask for recommendations

“It’s hard to think past what we currently do,” Zawadzki said. So, outsource your search.

Just as you’d ask a friend for a book or movie recommendation, ask your loved ones which activities they’d recommend for someone with your interests and tastes. Make sure they’re aware of any financial, time or space constraints, too.

Make your hobbies as accessible as screen time…

If you’re used to spending your evening in front of the TV, it can be hard to put those hours to new use —even once you’ve found a rewarding hobby.

“Screens are so easy,” said Gabriela Tonietto, an associate professor of marketing at Rutgers Business School who has studied leisure time.

So, keep your sketchpad or crossword puzzle in plain sight rather than stored away, Pressman suggested, and flow directly from work or dinner into hobby time before you get distracted by screens.

Setting specific goals (not just, “I want to reduce screen time,” but something like, “I will read for an hour before bed”), carving out designated time for your activity, and enlisting a hobby buddy for accountability can all help you stick to your pastime, Tonietto said.

…but don’t beat yourself up if the screens sometimes win

Screen time isn’t inherently bad, Zawadzki said. Watching a movie with your family can be a bonding activity — especially if you talk about it afterward — and catching up with a juicy TV show on the treadmill may motivate you to exercise.

“Any kind of activity has the potential to be positive,” he said. “But you have to optimize it a little bit to serve your goals,” and set a cap on how much time you spend vegging out.

So don’t be too hard on yourself if you can’t totally quit your screen-based hobbies. They may have some benefits too — and recognizing them is half the battle. Tonietto’s research suggests that viewing leisure time as wasteful can make it less enjoyable and beneficial.

“Step one is actually experiencing that positivity when you engage in these activities,” Tonietto said. “The consequences of that are feeling more relaxed, feeling less stressed, feeling happier.”