Social Media and the F.D.A.

In mid-November, the U.S. F.D.A. held public hearings on the marketing of drugs and medical devices using social media. This was the first public hearing on the use of the Internet to promote FDA-regulated drugs since 1996.

Long overdue, the meetings offered a tremendous opportunity for drug and device makers to get some guidance on how to communicate within the ever-evolving Internet space. Among those presenting were advertising agencies, consultants, device and drug makers. Even Google and Yahoo! got in the act (both would like to get the FDA’s stamp of approval on the search engine marketing of branded drugs).

I’m currently writing about the hearings for the Bio-Marketing newsletter but in the meantime am offering this online resource of 130+ articles plus links.