When Tweets Go Awry: Gedeon Richter Will Not Tweet This News

As drugmakers weigh the perils and pleasures of social media, consider what Gedeon Richter recently experienced. A former employee complained to the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, a UK panel that monitors industry behavior, about a pair of tweets that were sent to promote a pair of events for the Esyma treatment for uterine fibroids. The tweets were actually issued by an events company and, to some, may have appeared innocuous. A November 9 tweet said: “Sharing surgical experience after the use of ulipristal acetate in fibroid patients” and a November 22 tweet said: “Places available at the Nottingham symposium on uterine fibroids.” One of these prompted the PMCPA to rule that Gedeon violated the code. Can you guess which one and why? The November 22 tweet was not a problem. This did not mention the name of a medicine or a company, and referred only to spaces being available at the symposium on the topic of uterine fibroids. And so the PMCPA panel did not consider the tweet to be an advertisement for a prescription medicine to the public, as alleged. But the November 9 tweet was another matter. This was considered promotional because a prescription medicine was named and referred to a potential use. The panel also rejected the curious logic offered by Gedeon – the tweet was sent at 1:37 am and only 55 followers would supposed have seen it. Not surprisingly, the panel noted that tweets can be re-tweeted and, therefore, disseminated more broadly. G...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs