Pharma Reform

The ability to mass market through social media could provide pharmaceutical companies efficient reach and frequency capabilities (more people, more often) never before possible.  From internet websites and webinars to Twitter, Facebook, and the ever-increasing number of new web-based tools and channels all provide unprecedented access to healthcare providers and patients alike.

Unfortunately, the industry is constrained by traditional regulatory requirements and worse, a lack of clarity regarding the regulatory interpretation for applying those requirements to the use of this evolving new media.  The FDA is struggling with how to manage, regulate, and control this new media opportunity which has the potential for rapid “viral” distribution of pharmaceutical company provided product and disease-related information.  PhRMA has drafted suggestions for how the industry could employ social media while maintaining regulatory compliance. (PhRMA letter to FDA February 26, 2010)

So, what’s the fuss?

The issue is simple.  Based on past performance and behavior, the pharmaceutical industry can’t be trusted.  Even with guidance, standards, regulations, and laws the industry has demonstrated that they will do whatever it takes to sell their drugs.  Pharmaceutical companies even ignore their own PhRMA codes and guiding principles that are supposed to “assure that promotion of medicine is truthful, scientifically accurate, and non-misleading.”

If pharmaceutical companies had an established base of credibility and had historically demonstrated they could be trusted to provide truthful, scientifically accurate and non-misleading information in their promotions their use of social media would be much less an issue.  With a trusted pharmaceutical industry, regulators could have responded more proactively and would be less concerned about trying to anticipate every potential abuse to make sure they leave no loopholes in their compliance standards which would provide the industry a legal way to abuse or take inappropriate advantage of social media promotion.

Nobody argues the value of informed healthcare providers and patients accomplished through dissemination of truthful, scientifically accurate and non-misleading product or disease-related information.  If the industry could be trusted to do this, regulation would be simple and everybody would benefit.  Time for the industry to work on reestablishing trust and credibility.

mike@pharmareform.com