Will Social Media Make it Harder for Pharma to "Hide" Drug Side Effects?

John LaMattina, former Pfizer president of Research and Development, suggests that FDA regulations make it virtually impossible for the pharmaceutical industry to "hide" drug side effects. "Most people don’t have a clue as to the vigorous requirements put on pharma by the FDA for reporting a drug’s side effects," says LaMittina. "Actually, specific regulations exist as to how the industry must handle and report adverse events" (see "Can Pharma Hide Side Effects Of Marketed Drugs In The U.S.?").LaMattina laments that he "often get[s] attacked that I am defending an evil empire." Some might say a "criminal organization" (see "GSK, GSK, GSK: TSK, TSK, TSK!").I don't want to "attack" LaMattina, but I will point out one or two things that bother me about his post.First, he insults the intelligence of "most people" who he claims "do not have a clue" about the constraints under which the drug industry operates and which REQUIRE that drug companies report adverse events. The tone, IMHO, is a bit paternalistic and echoes the attitude I've heard expressed by other current or former drug industry executives. See, for example, "Bayer's CEO Accuses Patients of Being Ungrateful B*stards! We Cured Cancer, Dammit!"Up until now, the main way that healthcare professionals and consumers report drug adverse events (AEs) is through the voluntary Medwatch program, which LaMattina himself says is "not perfect." That's an understatement. In 2011, the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Developmen...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: social media Adverse events Source Type: blogs