EMDC

Rich Meyer says pharma marketers don’t even know what to do with the web traffic data they already have much less how to integrate social media into the mix, which is ironic considering how much research goes into pharma industry decision-making.

Federal Register: FDA Announcement of Social Media Hearing [Federal Register: September 21, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 181)] [Notices] [Page 48083-48088] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21se09-58] ———- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. FDA-2009-N-0441] Promotion of Food and Drug Administration-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet [...]

Common Sense Media Group: The 5 Myths Surrounding the FDA and Social Media Must read. He takes a pretty pessimistic view. Basically, don’t expect FDA action any time soon and don’t expect any radical changes. (via ePharma Rx)

Eye on FDA: What Companies Should Do Between Now and The Part 15 Hearing on Social Media A good read all the way through. He has advice for individual companies and for industry associations. And this: At the FDLI conference held earlier this week in Washington, both Dr. Janet Woodcock and Tom Abrams affirmed that [...]

AdAge: FDA to Hold Public Hearings on Big Pharma’s Social-Media Use The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hold a two-day public hearing in November on how pharmaceutical companies use the web and social-media tools to market their products, the first step in a long overdue process that will finally establish guidelines for how drug [...]

“Use of internet-based social media such as Facebook and Twitter can pose compliance risks for drug companies, experts agree.” — I’ll say this: Any time anyone who is employed by a drug (or device, or biotech) company opens their mouth, it’s a compliance risk. Regulated companies can and should use social media channels to market themselves instead of their products.

Planet Money starts to dive into branded vs generic drug pricing, the insurance industry’s view on the pricing, the pharma industry’s view on the insurance industry’s view, and what that means for you when you’re standing at the drug store with a prescription in hand.

Examiner.com to adopt NowPublic’s technologies and recruit NowPublic’s pro-am news reporters to join Examiner.com’s network of hyperlocal (and hyper-niche topical) writers.

I was quoted in an August 7, 2009 St. Paul Pioneer Press article on foursquare, a location-aware social game in which you check in at venues around town to earn points and badges, to let your friends know where you are and potentially meet up with them, and to alert friends to hot tips about that place.

One of the features of the South by Southwest Interactive festival is that they allow the attendees and interested parties to help determine the programming. I’ve rated about half of the 2200-ish submissions. I’ll describe my rating process and my general impressions of this year’s Panelpicker.