Pew Prescription Project Director Allan Coukell addressed the FDA this morning as part a two-day public hearing on the promotion of drugs and devices on the internet and social media.
The agency is seeking public input on how pharmaceutical and medical device companies interact on the internet about FDA-approved medical products. Anticipation of the hearings has run high, as pharmaceutical and medical device presence on the internet has expanded greatly in recent years and warning letters from the agency in April have left industry and consumers clamoring for more clarity on how existing FDA marketing regulations apply in the online world. We were among them, filing petitions to the FDA last December over a series of YouTube videos that violated marketing regulations.
Coukell's comments were part of RxP and Community Catalyst's joint submission to the FDA. Here's the full docket, or you can watch a live stream of the hearings.
--Kate Petersen, PostScript blogger