EMDC

FDASM – “Everything about the FDA, Internet, & Social Media”
It’s an aggregator of information about the FDA, it’s use of social media, and it’s regulation of social media use by the industries it oversees.

The Indira Gandhi International airport here will soon have a dedicated zone for storing imported and exported pharma products in controlled atmosphere till Customs checking is conducted.

Government Health IT magazine talks about the first steps in FDA’s move towards greater transparency.

Eye on FDA: What We Didn’t Hear at the FDA Part 15 Meeting on Social Media
We heard from far too few pharma companies, and far too many bloggers.
What was missing? What anyone should be doing in the meantime, what’s the process going forward, and what (if anything) is going on in Europe.

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 and Social Media Tools; Notice of Public Hearing
AGENCY: Food and [...]

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 this is [...]

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 makers [...]

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.