Lead, follow ... or get out of the way.
From the pages of Health Policy News:
FDA Weighs Role of Social Media In Agency Communications
FDA is seeking social media advice for its own communications practices as it crafts a much-anticipated guidance to govern the drug industry's utilization of Web 2.0 tools, with the agency struggling with how much its outreach efforts should include new Internet-based applications. The agency is mulling whether to take a more active role in social media outlets to interact with the public on issues like recalls and enforcement actions, but a former FDA communications official said the agency needs to embrace new media now to fulfill its public health mandate and to set an example for the industries it regulates.
As more doctors turn to social media to communicate with patients and because it has proven to be a vital tool in drug crises, FDA is evaluating how much it should participate in this evolving platform, indicating that it is a "gray area" for the agency to have staff actively participating in tools like Facebook and Twitter, agency officials said May 6 during a Risk Communication Advisory Committee meeting.
Advisory committee members and FDA officials indicated that by, for example, following people on Twitter, the government would have more interaction with the public. Greg Busse of the drug center's safety and risk communications team, said the psychological power of such an action would allow the government to engage in dialogue with with public.
"Whether or not it will ever come to light, whether it will work that way, I'm not sure," he said.
FDA has several Twitter feeds based on different topic areas, but each feed only follows a handful of government agencies and health organizations. The agency does not retweet information from other users. While following indicates whose information FDA is monitoring, retweeting, or sharing other users' ideas, indicates interaction with others on the media platform.
FDA has also researched the diffusion of and feedback from its message on various topics, including the peanut butter and egg recalls, action taken against Four Loko caffeinated alcoholic beverages and issues surrounding genetically engineered salmon.
Peter Pitts, president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, told FDA Week that FDA needs to take action in the social media realm because it is where people are now getting their information and it advances the agency's public health mission. Further, he said the agency has already collected enough information through public meetings and studies to advance its use.
"Social media isn't an option," said Pitts, a former associate commissioner for external relations at FDA. "Social media is for many Americans their exclusive pathway for health information."
While all channels of social media should be embraced by the agency, he said video should be prioritized. The way the agency handles these platforms could direct industry, he said. "The FDA could do wonders by leading by example," said Pitts, who is also a consultant to the advisory committee.
Committee members said the agency could build trust and reinforce its message through the social media tools. "I think part of the challenge is sort of being authoritative and also accessible and responsive," one committee member said. Committee members also noted the repetition that comes from social media has positives and negatives as the agency's message could be manipulated and quickly disseminated.
The limited available space to convey risk-benefit information and viral nature of a social media message has also caused concern among industry, which has been pushing for guidance for how it can use these new tools without running afoul to marketing regulations. In recent weeks, FDA announced a series of studies on the Internet intended to inform the guidance, which in turn is likely to delay the document that has missed two goals for issuance.
During the meeting, Elisabeth George, a vice president with Philips Healthcare, questioned the committee on industry's responsibilities. As directed by the agency, "if there is any off-label use that is being done with our products or if there is any misinformation with respect to safety and efficacy, we need to take action ," she said. But it is unclear how far regulators expect industry to go in policing the information, she said.
