McNeil mobilizes ADHD awareness in NYC

Ben Comer

October 16 2009

Source: Medical Marketing & Media

Pedestrians mulling around Times Square in New York City can learn more about ADHD by responding to an advertisement on the CBS jumbotron, via text message.

The 15-second ad reads, “Can't focus? Can't sit still? Could you or your child have ADHD? To find out more, text ‘ADHD' to 87415,” and can be seen on the 26x20 foot screen four times per hour, according to Tricia Geoghegan, a McNeil Pediatrics spokesperson. The jumbotron ads will run through November 30.

Upon texting “ADHD” to the number 87415, consumers receive a near-instantaneous text message in return containing a link to the “Concerta Mobile Web Experience,” a branded mobile-optimized platform for McNeil's ADHD drug. The mobile site offers information about ADHD in adults and children, an ADHD/ADD screening adapted from the World Health Organization's ADHD test, branded testimonial videos and a coupon offering a 30-day free trial of Concerta. At press time, 4,764 consumers had accessed the Concerta mobile web program, according to Geoghegan.

Although the Times Square billboard offers plenty of exposure, Geoghegan said that creating a redirect for Concerta.net – a technology that sends mobile phone users straight to the mobile-optimized website when they attempt to access Concerta.net online – immediately brought the visitor numbers up to triple digits. “We went from 10 visits on October 5, to 516 visits on October 6,” said Geoghegan, adding that the company had known mobile users were trying to access Concerta.net from Google Analytics data. “We're learning from our users,” said Geoghegan.

NYC-based Augme Mobile, acquired by Modavox, Inc. in July, provided the texting platform, and Ogilvy Healthworld built the product site. McNeil Pediatrics is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.Show all

From Twitter 10-16-2009

• 07:51:20: New Study, ComScore Prescribes Branded Web Sites As Most Effective For Pharma: http://tr.im/C0vX
  
• 08:09:46: in case u missed it, new study from ComScore Prescribes Branded Web Sites As Most Effective For Pharma: http://tr.im/C0vX
  
• 12:42:23: @adamcohen nice article in AdAge: "Big Pharma and Google Sidewiki": http://tr.im/C2tB
  
• 12:44:23: Who's hot and who's not - check out the CLIO HEALTHCARE AWARDS shortlist posted this AM: http://tr.im/C2vI #CLIOHC
  
• 12:51:27: 18 Favorite Tools of Twitter Rock Stars: http://tr.im/C2yG
  
• 14:03:28: GAME CHANGER: soon, just about anyone (who knows Flash) will be able to build an iphone app: http://tr.im/C31j
  
• 14:05:56: Last I checked @pharmaguy was winning with 2,000+ votes. The Mack has got mad mojo! RT @adamcohen: @shwen @skypen lol - that is priceless
  
• 14:12:26: VERY COOL. "Social Media Campaign to Beat Cancer Eyes Record in Guinness Book" http://tr.im/C369 (@diabetesalic @Mediabistro)
  
• 14:21:01: You are very welcome! #beatcancer RT @diabetesalic: @skypen Thxs for the RT Fabio!
  
• 14:23:43: SPREAD THE WORD: eBay/PayPal & MillerCoors will donate 1 cent 2 cancer research for every TWT, FB UPDATE, or BLOG containing the #beatcancer
  
• 14:28:16: If every user replaced #followfriday with #beatcancer today, we could help raise $1MILLION for breast cancer. Come on folks!
  
• 14:49:57: Each time you use hashtag #beatcancer today, it's $0.01 to cancer research. Please retweet. http://tr.im/C3hY (cha-ching -I've raised 0.12!)
  
• 14:58:33: 5,000+ mentions of #beatcancer in 15 minutes! It's a lot, but not enough. Watch the tweets streaming live on http://bit.ly/13eaS
  
• 16:00:43: STATS UPDATE ON #BEATCANCER CAMPAIGN: Approx 200 mentions per min. Took 4.5 hrs 2 get to 35k, 1.5 hr 2 get to 50k. It's going viral!
  
• 16:18:12: Jst donated $25 2 each org on beatcancereverywhere.com @standuptocancer @BeBrightPink @SPIRITJUMP @AlexsLemonade THNKS 4 HELPING #BEATCANCER
  
• 16:29:43: $0.10 IF U RETWEET #beatcancer #beatcancer #beatcancer #beatcancer #beatcancer #beatcancer #beatcancer #beatcancer #beatcancer #beatcancer
  
• 16:41:37: 2000 #BEATCANCER mentions past 10 min. 980 min left->196k more + 60k current->approx. 260k. total. Not good enough. TWEET NOW, SAVE LIVES.
  
• 17:19:52: Celebrities join now! #BEATCANCER and help raise $$$ for CANCER! @TheEllenShow @perezhilton @KimKardashian @Oprah @RyanSeacrest @aplusk
  
• 17:20:45: URGE CELEBRITIES 2 TWEET #BEATCANCER NOW 2 raise $$$ for CANCER! @TheEllenShow @perezhilton @KimKardashian @Oprah @RyanSeacrest @aplusk
  
• 22:39:14: WTF FRIENDS??? I got 1000+ RTs when I wrote abt FDA & Social Media--yet only 100 RTs 4 #BEATCANCER, which actually IS how SM SAVES LIVES.
  

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Social Media Campaign to Beat Cancer Eyes Record in Guinness Book

October 16th, 2009 | by Adam Ostrow
Source: Mashable

Over the past few months, there’s been a tremendous amount of activity in utilizing social media for charitable causes. Perhaps the most notable recent example is Drew Carey’s bid of $1 million for the Twitter name @drew, with all of the proceeds being donated to cancer research.

Today, using the collection of hundreds of bloggers currently converged at Blog World Expo as an impetus, a social media fundraising effort is underway looking to set a Guinness Book World Record “for the distribution of the largest mass message through social media” in a 24 hour period.

The concept is rather simple. For every tweet, Facebook status update, or blog post containing the #beatcancer hashtag, eBay/PayPal and MillerCoors will be donating 1 cent to cancer research. With a captive audience of social media addicts, the hope is that the campaign will go viral and raise significant money for several charities.

More details are available on the beatcancereverywhere.com website, along with badges that you can embed on your blog to further expand the reach of the campaign. The site is also tracking total mentions, so you can see how the campaign is progressing throughout the day.

ComScore Prescribes Branded Web Sites As Most Effective For Pharma

Source: Media Post News
Gavin O'Malley, Oct 15, 2009 05:26 PM

Exposure to online media, including a brand's Web site and online ads, had a significant positive lift on a treatment's awareness and favorability, according to comScore's third annual study, "Online Marketing Effectiveness Benchmarks for the Pharmaceutical Industry."

The results also showed that visitation to a brand's website generated significant levels of incremental new patient "starts" and refills.

The study, performed in conjunction with pharmaceutical marketing consultancy Evolution Road, evaluated the impact of various online marketing activities including banner ads, rich media, search marketing and visits to a brand website on a pharmaceutical brand's awareness, favorability and sales results among both patients and prospects.

"A brand's Web site is the most effective online tactic for pharmaceutical marketers," said John Mangano, vice president of comScore marketing solutions. "Not only does it provide visitors with critically important information on the condition, treatment options and the drug itself, but it is also one of the few environments where a brand can build a dynamic and recurring relationship with its patients."

Added Mangano: "It is important though to realize that a brand's website is only one critical piece of a comprehensive marketing campaign that includes online display ads, search marketing and offline marketing working in unison to raise awareness, educate consumers and ultimately drive conversion."

The study found that branded Web sites were the most effective form of online pharmaceutical marketing, with existing patients increasing their refill rate nearly 25% compared to those who did not visit the site.

Patients who were new to a treatment increased an incremental 11.9% higher than the control. Exposure and interaction with rich media ads also improved refill rate among existing patients with a 14% lift versus the control group.

Additionally, the study found that online advertising and branded websites had a significant positive impact on awareness and favorability among patients and prospects.

For prospects, exposure-only to an ad increased both aided and unaided brand awareness, with increases of 4.1% and 4.2%, respectively.

Pharma websites played the greatest role in increasing awareness and favorability among patients and prospects. Prospects exhibited an 18% lift in favorability after visiting a branded website, while patients reported a 17.2% lift.

From Twitter 10-15-2009

• 06:21:25: Thanks 4 the kind words! RT: @edwardaten Hey @frogdesign if u want a better #futureofhealthcare chat u need @skypen @jonmrich & @maverickny.
  
• 10:05:16: Starting final round of judging on first-ever CLIO HEATLHCARE AWARDS!!! #CLIOHC http://tr.im/BTRp
  
• 10:32:58: CLIO Judges debate whether ads that REQUIRE fair-balance AND are creative should b recognized ABOVE ads that don't #CLIOHC http://tr.im/BTRp
  
• 11:22:15: Trade names: http://tr.im/BUmDRT @LabSpaces: Popular antideprssant ass. w/dramatic increase in suicidal thoughts: http://tinyurl.com/yzjln7f
  
• 11:44:35: VERY COOL! Concerta Launches Mobile Web Experience w/1-click connect to live support! http://tr.im/BUvY
  

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Concerta Launches Mobile Web Experience

Source: DTC Insights (Oct, 2009)

McNeil Pediatrics has launched the Concerta Mobile Web, a mobile formatted version of some of the most popular features from its product Web site, www.concerta.net. Consumers can text “ADHD” to 87415 from any mobile device to access the Concerta Mobile Web. In addition, the site allows consumers to find background information about ADHD in children and adults, as well as to interact with a symptom screener from the World Health Organization, view video testimonials, read Concerta-specific information,and receive a coupon for the drug. The Concerta Mobile Web also includes a one-click feature for visitors to speak with the Concerta ADHD support center.

Citing comScore data, McNeil noted the number of people using a mobile device to access news and information on the Internet has more than doubled between January 2008 and January 2009, to 63.2 million people; 35 percent of which did so daily.

• “We know consumers are turning to mobile technology more and more for information, and Concerta is excited to be there with them, especially to provide information on ADHD and our product,” Lars Merk, product director, said in a statement. “The Concerta Mobile Web speaks to both increasing awareness of ADHD and awareness of what consumers want when using technology. We’re continually looking for new ways of making therapeutic and product information more accessible.”

From Twitter 10-14-2009

• 05:29:27: @pharmaguy: waking up to your tw'rant on BI reminds of waking up to Howard Stern-- dude was always pointed & incisive & made me grin.
  
• 05:35:24: @pharmaguy - rainy so. cal. waiting for mudslides to wipe away a few homes. Looks like you're starting a few of your own out there :)
  
• 05:39:57: Speaking of sidewiki, they updated their label: "SW may induce confusion and nausea, and can lead to split-personality disorder". @swoodruff
  
• 06:27:23: Re-defining "The Mack Attack" @shwen @pharmaguy @jonmrich @swoodruff: http://twitpic.com/lhlcc
  
• 07:20:28: @JeanneMale NO, that's a real photo of Mack when he audioned for the new "Chief SideWiki compliance Officer" role at the FDA
  
• 10:05:10: Please RT! TWITTER PHISHING SCAM: if u receive something that says "this you?+ link", DO NOT CLICK. Read about it here: http://tr.im/BMoH
  
• 10:24:52: EXACTLY my sentiment. If I need 2 watch a 2 hr video 2 figure it out, something's wrong! RT @GrillerGeek: @jonmrich RE: Wave, now what?
  
• 16:11:23: @jonmrich i got an invite- but seriously, had no idea what to do! I really felt like a total digital nimrod...
  
• 16:13:39: @jonmrich It's like i got invited to the coolest, most exclusive party of the year... but i was the only one there.
  
• 16:42:49: RT Put me in coach. I sent you my wave address. @jonmrich @maverickNY @brianreid @danalewis @wmartino @eyeonfda
  

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From Twitter 10-13-2009

• 06:02:02: "28 Tweets Later": The social media apocalypse is here: http://twitpic.com/lcj4f (via @thebrandbuilder)
  
• 07:02:44: New Facebook App. Aims to Prevent Cervical Cancer: http://tr.im/BE5H
  
• 07:06:34: @Pharmaguy hosts social media giants @WendyBlackburn, @JonMrich, Silja (@WhyDotPharma), and @swoodruff on exclusive ePioneer live chat.
  
• 07:36:54: Story of my life. RT @shwen: #BTRPMT D'oh! And @skypen get's cut off in mid-sentence...CENSORED! ;-)
  
• 07:39:16: I didn't know either :) RT @whydotpharma: @skypen You got cut off? I did not notice... sorry!
  
• 07:41:05: @pharmaguy asks: "How do we get pharma med, leg, reg comfortable with social media?" Answer: PIZZA! :) #BTRPMT
  
• 07:42:26: @swoodruff, parting words: "Best & Word Advice for Companies: Get started. Worst thing: Get started w/out a plan." #BTRPMT
  
• 07:45:51: @whydotpharma, parting words: "2day, pharma too focused on SM tools (eg, twitter). Need to focus on adding value to patients." #BTRPMT
  
• 07:46:50: @wendyblackburn, parting words: ""SM not a shiny object. SM needs to be integrated into all programs"." #BTRPMT
  
• 07:47:20: @jonmrich, parting words: "RE: ROI. Let's not hold SM to standards higher than all other things we currently do." #BTRPMT
  
• 07:49:23: @pharmaguy, parting words: "Don't forget to take survey on FDA & Social Media - http://tr.im/BEqN" #SMFDA #BTRPMT
  
• 07:59:14: New whitepaper from CoreMetrics: "Social Media Analytics": http://tr.im/BEuE
  
• 08:08:02: Q: Is Social Media worth the effort? A: Will your CFO get as excited as your CMO? GR8 quote from Social Media whitepaper: http://tr.im/BEuE
  
• 08:41:39: Nice social media timeline visual: http://tr.im/BEMi (via @shivsingh @dianasvia @dianas)
  
• 08:45:50: Fascinating data. CNN: "Does your social class determine your online social network?": http://tr.im/BEOx (via @TomHCAnderson)
  
• 08:49:31: Has anyone tried this twitter client: http://statuzer.com? If so, how does it compare with TweetDeck?
  
• 09:13:36: GR8 post! "What use is Social Media in the Pharma Industry?" http://tr.im/BEZ1 (@The_Shed)
  
• 09:15:58: BNET "Pharma on Twitter: J&J Tweets the Most; Novartis Has Most Followers, Abbott Not Out of the Gate Yet": http://tr.im/BF1t
  
• 09:32:42: Health Care & Pharma Webinar: Keeping w/in Regulatory Guidelines While Exploring New Frontiers in Healthcare Social Media: http://tr.im/BF7T
  
• 10:28:45: Looks like Google trickled out another set of invites last night to WAVE. Now what? Are we going from FRIENDS to FOLLOWERS to... SURFERS?
  
• 10:35:51: Because sometimes folks RT b4 clicking the link. It's a form of TS (Twourette Syndrome). RT @fardj: @andrewspong @sarahmorgan ellenhoenig
  
• 11:20:37: Sadly, I've been guilty of it more than I care to admit. @sarahmorgan @fardj @andrewspong @ellenhoenig
  
• 11:49:16: Remember @pharmaguy's April fool joke re:FDA SM guidance? So many folks didn't read the whole thing and bought it @andrewspong @sarahmorgan
  
• 11:53:06: COOL! RT @JBGuru: Need real-time social media stats? Here you go: http://tr.im/BG3p (RT @leeodden @jowyang) #socialmedia
  
• 12:28:49: @pharmaguy I know! Worse yet, @jonmrich's blog had people diving 4 cover. Literally.
  
• 13:18:22: In case you missed this from @mashable: "How Social Media is Revolutionizing Your Doctor Visits": http://tr.im/BGAZ (via @jlefevere)
  
• 18:35:19: Social media can be so effective at fostering new relationships, yet sometimes seems to dilute the value of old ones. Is it just me?
  

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Health Care & Pharma Webinar: Keeping Within Regulatory Guidelines While Exploring New Frontiers in Healthcare Social Media

WHEN: 3 pm EST Thursday, October 22

Registration is limited to WOMMA members and their appropriate brand clients.

Arnie Friede
Former Associate Chief Counsel at FDA

Mark Senak
Pharma & Biotech Strategist

Ann Moravick
EVP of Ketchum

REGISTER NOW

WOMMA is hosting a webinar review the top concerns of communicators relating to drug and device industry communications discuss how companies have addressed these concerns in social media platforms, discuss low-risk, creative social media strategies that companies are undertaking to increase communications impact and discuss the role of industry in advancing social media in healthcare and responsibilities of industry for being its own watchdog.

Additionally we’ll brief registrants about WOMMA’s efforts to respond to FDA’s recent hearings and comments requests.

REGISTER NOW

This webinar will feature two guest speakers including Arnie Friede, former Associate Chief Counsel at FDA and currently sole practioner for food and drug law in his own practice, Arnold I. Friede & Associates. Mark Senak, of WOMMA member company Fleishman-Hillard, is an authority on regulatory aspects of communications and medical products, with particular emphasis on pre-approval communications. Mark is also a strategist to help pharma and biotech companies prepare best case for advisory committee approval and deals with issues and crisis management. The panel will be moderated by Ann Moravick, former EVP of Ketchum and current founder and president of Rx4Good, a corporate social responsibility service that matches healthcare companies with evidence-based healthcare causes that are making a difference in healthcare.

Social Media Analytics White Paper

Source: CoreMetrics

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE NEW WHITEPAPER

You'll learn how to:

• Determine the effectiveness of this new marketing channel, and how well social media stacks up against other online marketing initiatives
• See the impact that social media marketing has on key business metrics, such as sales, bookings, conversion events, etc.
• Overcome social media success inhibitors, define and implement enduring processes around the included step-by-step methodology for success

Novel Facebook Application Aims to Prevent Cervical Cancer

Source: PR Newswire

Users can share interactive information on HPV anonymously

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new Facebook application has been launched to help educate, motivate and mobilize people to prevent the spread of Humanpapilloma Virus (HPV). "Fact Check: HPV" (www.hpvfactcheck.org) allows users to take an interactive, educational quiz about HPV, find additional resources, and commit to take action, while even allowing concerned friends to anonymously share the application with peers.

The application was developed by Partnership for Prevention and the University of Maryland's College of Information Studies with input from the School of Public Health. The project was funded by the Fund to Prevent Cervical Cancer.

"Use of social networking sites has skyrocketed in the last few years, becoming an excellent channel to promote healthy behaviors," said Robert J. Gould PhD, president of Partnership for Prevention. "Fact Check: HPV will harness the power of social media to increase awareness of this common sexually transmitted disease (STD)."

Use of social networking sites has quadrupled over the last four years from 8 percent in 2005 to over 35 percent in 2008. Over 75% of young adults, age 18-24, have a profile page, the vast majority of whom check it at least weekly.

"Young adults trust information recommended by friends, however, friends are often reticent to share information about stigmatized illnesses such as STDs, mental illnesses, or substance abuse. This project tests a novel strategy that spreads sensitive information through friendship networks, while still retaining anonymity." said Derek L. Hansen, PhD, Assistant Professor at University of Maryland's College of Information Studies. "It also helps us learn how the application spreads through the network and identify misperceptions about HPV based on quiz results."

A recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that one in four adolescent girls between the ages of 14-19, or 3.2 million teen girls, is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases -- (HPV, Chlamydia, Herpes, and Trichomoniasis). This study sheds new light on a chronic problem among adolescents in the United States -- one that often receives little attention, in part, due to the sensitive nature of the topic.

STDs can result in serious health consequences when left untreated, including cervical cancer and infertility, and cost the U.S. health care system millions of dollars in medical expenses.

Partnership for Prevention is a membership organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at www.prevent.org.

From Twitter 10-12-2009

• 10:33:07: @pharmaguy : 2 complicated 2 explain in 140 characters. Don't worry :)
  
• 11:59:34: Guest blog post by Arnie Friede RE: new FTC guidelines on endorsements & relevance to upcoming FDA Social Media Hearings: http://tr.im/ByNA
  
• 18:36:27: Interesting. Research company uses social network analysis in influence mapping to help pharma find KOLs: http://tr.im/BAR2
  
• 20:19:26: Why is this being RT'ed??? RT @ellenhoenig: RT @AdKrispies: RT @scottmonty The SM Marketing Blog: A Pharma-Sponsored ... http://bit.ly/NHfVG
  
• 20:23:55: There is only one Friday the 13th in the next 11 months. I love MOST horror stories, except when I am in it. See u at the FDA hearings :)
  
• 20:58:53: @MaverickNY - I know - I just hate when a tweet gets me real excited and then... oh well.
  
• 21:07:34: Is there such a thing as a "do not call" list for twitter? Or better yet, imagine a service where with 1 click all SPAM followers r purged.
  
• 21:42:25: VERY VERY KIND OF YOU. Thank you. RT @MaverickNY: @skypen PS well done on making the Top 100 in PharmaVoice - cool & well deserved
  
• 22:09:48: Day 1. Exposure. Day 3. Infection. Day 8. Epidemic. Day 15. Frenzy. Day 20. B#!!$hit Milkshake. 28 TWEETS LATER: http://tr.im/BBGc
  

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28 TWEETS LATER

I love this image -- thank you for the grin olivier alain blanchard!

LNX Pharma Uses Social Network Analysis in Influence Mapping to Find KOLs

In Key Opinion Leader Management, Quantity Does Not Equal Quality in Evaluating a Scientist's Real Importance

Using Social Network Analysis in Influence Mapping, Lnx Pharma Research Finds Pharmaceutical Companies May Be Ignoring Up To 50% of Key Scientific Leaders

ORANGE, CA -- September 30, 2009 -- Lnx Pharma's research results shatter current best practice for companies in pharmaceutical and biotechnology research who seek out "Key Opinion Leaders" (KOLs) among the scientific community to help advise research and development teams.

In drug development and pharmaceutical market research, companies seek out KOLs for many reasons, particularly in their pharmaceutical commercialization strategies. Until now, Key Opinion Leader Management focused primarily on those scientific leaders who are frequent publishers in high-visibility journals and academic papers, plus well-known speakers and educators.

Lnx Pharma, a research firm in Orange, CA that specializes in complex social network analysis for key opinion leader management and influence mapping, has found overwhelming evidence that pharmaceutical companies are missing consideration of a significant pool of truly valuable candidates that have influence in specific disease research worldwide - up to half of the most key influencers in a category.

"Our findings challenge the general notion that people who are productive authors are actually connected and meaningful to the community," says Philip Topham, General Manager. "Their ideas may be meaningful, but this shows that they don't always have the relationships with others in the community so their ideas may not be spread around as easily to peers and colleagues. If you're an isolated person, it's hard for ideas to flow. Conversely, there are people that companies might dismiss because there is not much evidence of their importance as measured by publication counts. But we find them highly connected in roles such as advisors and trusted colleagues, or subject matter experts to the community."

Lnx Pharma uses "social network analysis" to decipher the real relationships in the medical and pharmaceutical research communities. Applying their proprietary technology to the universe of people and publications, they found across multiple disease categories that 50% of potentially valuable key scientific leaders were actually not the most frequently published or cited scientists. That is to say, if pharmaceutical companies are only considering volume and popularity as a metric for evaluating key advisors, they are missing up to half of the people who may be truly of importance.

Analyzing over a dozen disease categories for clients who engage the company for custom research, Lnx Pharma consistently found many previously undervalued or unknown KOLs, but more importantly they uncovered critical information about how people work and organize around specific ideas and topics. Importance can't be reliably measured by a list using one or two ranking criteria. Lnx Pharma technology allows deciphering of the complex web of relationship in the ecosystem of human expert networks, identifying relative positions of individuals in the network, based on multiple highly relevant criteria. The results are critical not only for Key Opinion Leader management, but also for overall pharmaceutical marketing research.

"Many of our clients have completely adjusted their marketing strategy," says Topham. "It's incredibly expensive to put together an advisory board, and making mistakes about who to engage can be critical in the long run. Our system erases the biases of cronyism and publishing volume, as well as being more inclusive of global candidates. The result is a more balanced and truly relevant group of key opinion leaders."

The full results of Lnx Pharma's research will be presented at the CBI Research Conference "Defining Appropriate and Effective Interactions with Thought Leaders and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs)", November 9-10. Companies and press interested in obtaining preview copies of the research may register for notification here: http://bit.ly/lnxpharmaform.

FTC Guides on Endorsements and Testimonials

Written by Guest Blogger Arnie Fiede (ARNIE FRIEDE & ASSOCIATES)

October 12, 2009

AI think there are corollary implications in the pharmaceutical and device context from the FTC’s revised guides on endorsements and testimonials. Let me put it this way. The FTC’s guides talk about bloggers on their own sites but with relationships to advertisers and whether and when those relationships effectively make the blogger an agent of the advertiser (or, as the FTC terms it, when the blogger is effectively “sponsored by” the advertiser).

In the FDA context, we have an opportunity, particularly in connection with the upcoming Internet Hearings, to evaluate a corollary proposition. In other words, when should postings by bloggers on a company sponsored blog or web site be attributed to the drug or device company that sponsors the blog or the web site? Is it the case that any such posting by a third party blogger with no relationship with the sponsor, except perhaps that the blogger has been prescribed one of the company’s products, and say, that mentions an off-label use should always be imputed to the sponsoring company? Or, are there circumstances or techniques (e.g. disclaimers) that would not necessarily treat such posting by bloggers on a company sponsored web site as affirmative representations by the company sponsoring the blog? Why should all such statements be imputed to the company that sponsors the blog or web site? After all, if the unaffiliated third party blogger posts these randomly on the internet they are not attributed to the sponsor? How would FDA reconcile a fresh approach to this question with how the Department of Justice and the Office of Inspector General might handle these off-label matters? Anyway, there is a lot here to think about and a lot to delve into in the upcoming FDA Internet Hearings.

From Twitter 10-11-2009

• 16:05:40: New, interesting data: "Who Dominate Twitter? Young Adults, Females & The Less Affluent": http://tr.im/BtuA (via @thebrandbuilder @techxav)
  

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From Twitter 10-10-2009

• 09:16:50: 30%+ say no. Moronic. RT @pharmaguy: Are There Special Cases for Correcting Misinformation on Social Media Sites? http://tr.im/BkUN #fdasm
  
• 09:18:58: Would the content need to be of value/interest to Marc, or to J&J? RT @JNJComm: @skypen thanks - interesting question. Much depends...
  
• 09:20:27: Would using a pharma co's handle (eg @amgen) constitute promoting them? RT @JNJComm: @skypen thanks - interesting question. Much depends...
  
• 09:24:27: 4 example, http://tr.im/BkXN. Not really a press release. Gr8 outreach initiative. Yet supported by @amgen RT @JNJComm: re: RT competitiors?
  
• 12:35:37: @swoodruff @pharmaguy: what's the diff. between google sidewiki & google disabling ability to moderate comments on blogger accounts?
  
• 16:26:38: @JNJComm The conversation IS the message. You have answered half my question by engaging in this discussion. Thank u!
  

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