Did you know the FDA has a drug information Twitter page?
The page stays true to it's dry mission of tweeting on "the latest drug information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."
This apparently includes new drug approvals, safety concerns, label changes, recalls, and the like. Here's a sample list of tweets:
New Drug Approval with REMS: Onsolis (fentanyl buccal soluble film) for breakthough pain. http://tinyurl.com/n55nf211:38 AM Jul 16th from web
FDA Approves Plan B One-Step for Single Dose Emergency Contraception and Lowers Age for Nonprescription Plan B. http://tinyurl.com/nt4xop12:13 PM Jul 15th from web
Information for Healthcare Professionals: FDA Requires Labeling Changes for Immunosuppressant Drugs. http://tinyurl.com/nnhmjy11:20 AM Jul 14th from web
New Drug Approval: Effient (prasugrel) to reduce the risk of blood clots in patients who undergo angioplasty. http://tinyurl.com/kk628p3:36 PM Jul 10th from web
New Generic Drug Information: Facts and Myths about Generic Drugs. http://tinyurl.com/kvtaad9:39 AM Jul 10th from web
New Regulatory Action: FDA takes action on Darvon and other medications containing propoxyphene. http://tinyurl.com/l3x6pa5:55 PM Jul 7th from web
New Drug Approval: Alimta (pemetrexed) for maintenance therapy of advanced or metastatic lung cancer. http://tinyurl.com/lv8ec810:43 AM Jul 7th from web
The page seems to have been around since July and has issued about 40 tweets in total, but I first heard about it from fellow pharma blogger Mark Senak over at EyeOnFDA. Mark pointed out that on September 11, the FDA announced the Twitter presence on its Web site.
It can also be noted that FDA already has another Twitter page at FDARecalls, which many people (including myself) had followed and then subsequently unfollowed because, who knew there were so many food recalls? But with 12,000 followers, there are plenty of people who follow that news. (This just in today ... massive recall of Gimbob Fish Cake!!)
Anyway ... we'll all be watching the FDA_Drug_Info Twitter page closely. At the time of this writing they had over 1500 followers but were only following 6 people. They also don't RT anything and don't seem to respond to anyone either.
Hmmm ... only following 6. Does that mean they don't know how to engage with Twitter, that they don't want to, or that they consider "following" an endorsement?
They seem to be taking the approach that many have criticized pharma for doing ... using Twitter as a one-way "push" mechanism to get their own word out, but not engaging in any kind of conversation. Not surprising I suppose.
And they've tweeted with brand names but no fair balance and no link to PI. [Example tweet from 9/11: FDA has approved NDA Vibativ (telavancin) for injection for complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI).] I guess if it's coming from FDA, it's not considered promotion. Then again, one would like to think they'd follow their own rules.
These are all issues that our clients' regulatory reviewers have been considering closely.
This will be an interesting one to watch indeed.
2 comments:
I don't know of many federal government Twitters which do engage in conversation because of the clearance process. I did notice that if you click on their website, it immediately provides their phone number and email.
Regarding engagement, you are probably right. It's actually kind of ironic that FDA likely doesn't engage in conversation (on sites like Twitter) largely because of the same reasons pharma doesn't ... it's too cumbersome, unrealistic, and time-consuming to vet every single possible response.
But if I see a tweet I want to ask about or respond to, I'm not likely to pick up the phone.
I've always felt pharma (and the goverment) could at least assign someone to speak for them. Someone that is well-trained, well-spoken, informed, polite, and knows where the lines are. Would they really need clearance to say "thanks for the RT" or "thanks for the follow?" Marc Monseau at J&J is a good example that comes to mind. FDA needs a Marc Monseau!
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