Hi! I'm trying to do some research on FDA regulation of medical
information on the Internet. I hear that the FDA is coming out, or
thinking of coming out, with guidelines on what people can say about
drugs on the Internet, especially if you're associated with a drug
company. I'm still hazy on the general topic, though I also hear that
newsgroups and discussion lists can be affected. Do drug companies have
to be careful before linking to a disease-related newsgroup or discussion
list? Do they have to police its content before linking to it? Are drug
company people restricted from talking about their drug in certain ways
on the discussion group? (Can they correct people who post wrong or
misleading information about drugs?)
I'm also interested in other areas where drug and device regulation
connects with information technology -- for example, FDA regulation of
software.
I would appreciate any responses, especially if you have something more
than generalities -- that is, if you've run across some of this
regulation yourselves, and can tell me the details of what happened. I
hope to get enough research done to write an article at some point, so
I'm looking for information as specific as you can. (Alternately, if
you've run across a case where FDA regulation was beneficial in stopping
harmful information, I'm interesting in hearing about that as well.)
You can respond to me privately through e-mail. If you're worried about
your privacy, just let me know and I'll respect it. Thanks!
- Sasha Volokh
