The New York Times, DTC, and Me
Several members of Congress are seeking restrictions on Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising (see "Just Say No to Drug Ads, Say Some Lawmakers").Representative Henry Waxman (Democrat) wants to give FDA the power...
Charlie Kimball, Novo Nordisk, and Me Make Up
Ever since I wrote my blog post dissing the first-ever pharma branded Tweet, people have wondered if I really have it in for the pharmaceutical industry. (start here and work your...
In Medical Publishing, Is Disclosure Enough?
"Full disclosure" (aka, "transparency") is a term used so often these days that it is becoming meaningless or at least so transparent as to be invisible.A case in point is the...
Nissen Puts Stake Through ACCME’s Heart at Senate Hearing on Industry-Funded CME
At yesterday's United States Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on "Medical Research and Education: Higher Learning or Higher Earning?", most of the testimony focused on pharma industry support of continuing...
Novo to Social Media: Report the Facts
A Twitter friend was surprised I did not respond "2 the Charlie Kimball thing- esp since your journalistic integrity was questioned. :("I had no idea what "thing" he was referring to,...
On Twitter, A Patient Photo is Worth a Thousand Characters!
Pharma brand marketers have a problem with Twitter. They can only use 140 characters (about 20 words) at a time. That limitation, however, has not stopped some drug marketers from posting...
The Social Media Revolution Will Not Be “Televised”
I spent the day yesterday attending ExL Pharma's 5th Annual Public Relations & Communications Summit, which was held at Pfizer headquarters in New York City.
Assembled there were some of the best...
Pfizer’s Social Media Strategy: Piss Off John Mack, Get Hundreds of New Followers!
Ray Kerins (LinkedIn profile and @RayKerins?) -- Head, Global Media Relations at Pfizer -- and I were among the few people attending yesterday's "Social Communications & Healthcare" conference who did NOT...
Pharma Shifts Support of CME from MECCs to Physician Societies
The 2009 annual report the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME's) is out and there are a few interesting takeaways:Overall Continuing Medical Education (CME) spending in the US is down...
FDA Cannot Track Its Own Review of Adverse Event Reports!
I don't know whether to laugh or cry regarding a Government Accounting Office (GAO) report that said while the number of adverse-event reports - which help the agency track drug and...
