Facebook stops drugmakers’ comment feature

Facebook on Monday stopped letting drugmakers disable the comments feature on their company pages, a change that prompted pharmaceutical companies to shut down some of their pages and update their social-media policies.

AstraZeneca, maker of the antidepressant Seroquel, took down its “Take on Depression” page and Johnson Johnson shuttered four pages devoted to diseases and conditions. Other companies revamped their commenting guidelines and said that they will more closely monitor the comments made on their sites.

“Any mention of a disease state or medicine on an AstraZeneca-owned or sponsored site is going to have to go under regulatory review,” said AstraZeneca spokesman Tony Jewell of the new policy. “We’ll take on a case-by-base basis and, in some cases, they (comments) will probably have to be taken down – which nobody wants to do, but we have to make sure we’ll handling these things appropriately.”

Pharmaceutical companies had, up until Monday, a Facebook option that virtually no other industry had – the ability to disable the comments section on its company page or wall. Facebook will still allow the companies to block comments on specific product pages, but most of the drugmakers said they didn’t have such pages.

The industry, which is regulated by the U.S. Food Drug Administration, had the ability to block comments on company pages on Facebook due to concerns that users would make comments about adverse effects or the potential off-label use of their products.

The change had been in the works for some time. Facebook, based in Palo Alto, did not say why it gave pharmaceutical companies this privilege or what prompted the social-networking giant to change the policy.

“We think these changes will help encourage an authentic dialogue on pages,” said the company through a spokeswoman.

‘Fooling yourselves’

Firms that prevent consumers from commenting violate the essence of social networking, said Peter Pitts, former FDA associate commissioner and president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, which is funded in part by the pharmaceutical industry.

“If you have a non-interactive page on Facebook and you define that as being in social media, not only are you fooling yourselves, but you are upsetting your constituency,” Pitts said “The message you’re sending out to the public is you’re afraid to mix it up in real time.”

Pitts said pharmaceutical companies need to embrace social networking as a way to build brand loyalty by educating – not marketing to – consumers.

But consumer groups had mixed responses, expressing concerns the information about what drugs consumers are taking could be used for marketing or to deny them health coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a San Diego nonprofit, said she was pleased patients could share more information in the comments section, but she had words of caution for consumers.

Free speech

“If it’s a pharmaceutical company and someone wants to make a comment, free speech must reign,” she said. “Comment all you want, but make sure it does not come back to be able to be used against you and by an insurance company or employer.”

Monday’s change prompted a number of pharmaceutical companies to take a conservative approach on Facebook.

Johnson Johnson dropped pages devoted to rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

“In these cases, decisions to close communities were difficult, but necessary. The new policy altered functionality in ways that changed our ability to sponsor some pages due to regulatory, legal and other considerations,” said JJ spokesman Bill Price in a statement, adding the majority of the company’s 60 pages enabled comments and were therefore unaffected.

Pfizer’s Facebook page was updated Monday to begin with this message: “Unfortunately sometimes we have to pull a comment from our wall. Here’s why.” The page goes on to explain the company’s reasons for removing a comment, which include making any reference to a product (made by Pfizer or any other company) as well as mentioning side effects or offering medical advice.

“We’re trying to be clear to people about where they can report questions or concerns,” said Pfizer spokesman Andrew Widger. “This isn’t about not receiving those messages; it’s about receiving them in an appropriate way.”

Amgen’s “Breakaway From Cancer” page went dark after the Woodland Hills (Los Angeles County) company, which makes the cancer drug Neulasta, failed to reach an agreement on terms with Facebook by Monday, spokeswoman Mary Klem said.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry’s main trade group, said it was awaiting further guidance from the FDA. The FDA is developing guidelines, but did not provide a timeline Monday.

E-mail Victoria Colliver at vcolliver@sfchronicle.com

This article appeared on page D – 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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