Is the Pharma Social Media Bubble About to Burst?
It may turn out that the recent FDA public hearings on Pharma's Use of Social Media was a turning point in the brouhaha over social media in the pharmaceutical industry. It...
Pharmacos Spend More on DTC Advertising When There is No Competition
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), "Promotional Spending for Prescription Drugs" (find it here), counterintuitively suggests that "drugs with little competition are likely to be marketed to consumers...
Atlas Did NOT Shrug! FDA Makes (Some) Comments Public
Yesterday, I started my Quixotic quest to impel the FDA to make available for public viewing the comments that have been submitted to Docket FDA-2009-N-0441: Promotion of FDA-Regulated Medical Products Using...
Dear FDA: Where Are the Public Comments Regarding Regulation of Internet, Docket FDA-2009-N-0441?
A public service message from FDA Intern:
Not only does FDA Intern want to know where all the comments are, I want to know also! It's been over 2 months since the...
Did State Medicaid Programs Finance Plavix Direct-to-Consumer Advertising?
When the November 15, 2009, AARP Rx Watchdog Report revealed that manufacturer prices for widely used brand name drugs have climbed dramatically over the last year, despite a negative general inflation...
FDA Intern & the Next Steps Toward Pharma Social Media Salvation!
Now that the big FDA public hearing is over, many people are asking "What's the next steps?" If you are like me, you expect FDA to issue new guidance. My friend...
Is Google the New FDA?
At the recent FDA public hearing, Google presented its "ideas" for standard paid search ads for Rx products. The following, for example, shows its "proposal" for "Black Box Sponsored Links:"
Click on...
Women May Achieve 0.2 More “Satisfying Sexual Events” Per Week with BI’s New “Desire...
Stop the presses! I mean literally stop press coverage of a new drug under development by the family-owned drug company Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (BI). A glowing Bloomberg story proclaims "Boehringer’s Desire...
FDA Social Media Guidelines Best Done in Baby Steps
In his closing remarks at yesterday's public hearing on FDA regulation of social media, Tom Abrams, Director of FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC), said "what we have...
FDA Social Media Hearing Day 1: My Key Takeaways
In my presentation before the FDA at yesterday's public hearing, I made some specific suggestions, including the use of an FDA-designated hash tag to be included in each branded Tweet posted...
