From the Journal of Life Sciences:
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook to Pharma: Comments Allowed
Social networking site says its pages must be an open forum for conversation.
MARIE DAGHLIAN
Facebook has told pharmaceutical companies that as of August 15, they will no longer be able to disable the comment feature on their Facebook pages. Until now, to control content on their pages, pharmaceutical brands could ask permission to disable commenting on their Facebook pages, citing compliance and regulatory concerns.
Facebook notes that as a social media platform, it is by definition, interactive. When commenting is not permitted, as on many pharmaceutical brand sites, there is no dialogue, defeating the purpose of social media.
The decision could complicate the pharmaceutical industry’s embrace of social media as companies continue to be cautious because of unintended consequences that could arise from its use.
“Everybody in pharma wants to be in social media—second,” says Peter Pitts, president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest [www.cmpi.org] and a former associate commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Many of the regulatory issues that Pharma usually brings up are self-imposed, says Pitts. The FDA has not said that pharma can’t be in social media and recognizes it as an important tool for communication.
Drug companies cite no clear direction from the FDA and say they are worried about conversations about adverse events and off-label uses of drugs, but Pitts believes that these conversations can be handled responsibly. “Blaming the FDA for lack of guidance is an excuse for a lack of understanding or even worse, a lack of courage for being in this space,” says Pitts.
Social media’s marketing use should be secondary to its capability to advance public health. Pharmaceutical companies need to be part of this conversation, notes Pitts.
Although pharmaceutical brand pages will no longer be able to disable commenting on their posts, Facebook will, on a case by case basis, allow disabling of the commenting function on branded pages solely dedicated to a prescription drug.
In an email explaining the policy to pharmaceutical companies, Facebook said it thinks the policy changes “support consistency for the Facebook Pages product and encourage an authentic dialogue between people and business on Facebook.”
