Last month saw the conclusion of the FDA’s public hearing on the internet promotion of drugs. This was the first time the agency has directly addressed and engaged key stakeholders in regards to online policy and guidelines since 1996, when the 16.7% of Americans who had web access spent an average of 30 minutes online each month.
While official reports and advice are some time away, a few key presentations and comments have become available online.
It’s worth pointing out that the bulk of these presentations consist of recommendations made by organisations to the FDA for their consideration as part of any new policy.
Nielsen presented in conjunction with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and their podcast with Melissa Davies (Nielsen’s Research Director, Healthcare, Online division) is worth a listen as Davies dissects some of the issues thought to be of major concern in social media, such as adverse event reporting and how patients access health information online.
Also of interest is Davies’ actual presentation and key takeouts regarding these same topics.
As Clinuvel CEO, Dr. Philippe Wolgen discussed a few weeks ago, the FDA’s warning letters spurred a sharp downturn in paid search activity from drug developers, a review of which made it’s way in to Google’s presentation at the forum. The presentation also includes some recommendations for assisting drug companies to adhere to fair balance language guidelines.
Overall this was an encouraging step by the FDA and a productive forum. We are eagerly awaiting notes and reports due out in the next few weeks, with official FDA guidelines expected by the end of 2010.
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