Worried drug firms losing Facebook protections

Relationship status: “It’s Complicated.”

Facebook and the pharmaceutical industry have had an uneasy
partnership in recent years. Many drug companies didn’t even join
the site until Facebook gave them a privilege that others do not
have – blocking the public’s ability to openly comment on a page
Wall.

But that’s about to change.

In a reversal by Facebook, most drug company pages will have to
have open Walls starting Monday.

Companies are worried that open Walls mean open risks, and many
are reconsidering their engagement on Facebook.

AstraZeneca shut down on Friday a page devoted to depression -
the company sells the antidepressant Seroquel. Johnson
Johnson said it will close four of its pages on Monday. Other
companies said they will monitor their pages more closely.

The industry is concerned that users might write about bad side
effects, promote off-label use or make inappropriate statements
about a product. Aside from poor word of mouth, the comments could
raise concerns from government regulators.

Facebook will not say what specifically prompted its change of
heart. Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications for
Facebook, said in an email, “We think these changes will help
encourage an authentic dialogue on pages.”

Facebook will allow companies to continue to block Wall comments
on specific prescription product pages, but those are a minority of
pharmaceutical company pages. Most pages – soon to be open – are
focused on companies themselves or on disease or patient-specific
communities, which then have ties to the companies’ prescription
products.

Johnson Johnson will shut down two pages focused on
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -ADHD Allies and ADHD Moms
- along with pages focused on rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
Combined, the four pages have more than 40,000 “likes” – people
following the page and its updates. Johnson Johnson sells the
ADHD drug Concerta, psoriasis drug Stelara and arthritis drugs
Simponi and Remicade.

Facebook has become an increasingly popular destination for
patient communities, with many shifting over the past couple years
from message boards and other websites to pages like those hosted
by companies, said Lisa Gualtieri, an assistant professor at the
Tufts School of Medicine who studies social media and health.

Jonathan Richman, a group director for the marketing agency
Possible Worldwide, said that companies are exaggerating the risks
of an open Wall, and he is trying to persuade them to stay
online.

The industry “nightmare” is processing of adverse event reports
(AERs), said Joe Farris, co-founder of the Digital Health
Coalition, a nonprofit group focused on online marketing of
health-care products. Users might write on a company’s Wall about a
specific product causing an unexpected reaction or injury. That
information could qualify as an AER, and it must then be filed with
the Food and Drug Administration, which uses the reports to monitor
product safety.

Richman said that a flood of AERs is unlikely. “I don’t think
we’re going to see a change in consumer behavior overnight.”

Companies also have ways of circumventing at least some of the
problems of an open Wall. Page owners, like any other Facebook
user, will be able to delete comments from their pages once they
appear, though that could mean 24-hour monitoring by the company
itself or a third party.

Pfizer, for example, will keep its current pages online and
“monitor to make sure no inappropriate comments are posted, and
manage them if and when they occur,” said Andrew Widger, a company
spokesman.

Amgen will maintain its “Breakaway From Cancer” page, said
spokeswoman Mary Klem. Amgen sells the cancer drugs Neulasta,
Neupogen and Vectibix.

Sanofi also has no plans to remove its pages from Facebook, said
spokesman Jack Cox. The company runs a diabetes page with more than
1,500 likes and makes the insulin products Apidra and Lantus.
According to Dennis Urbaniak, Sanofi’s U.S. vice president for
diabetes, Facebook has become more than a marketing and branding
tool.

“We’ve been able to get feedback that’s more genuine and
relevant,” Urbaniak said. “We see (the page) as a way of getting to
know patients better.” To avoid problems, the company avoids
discussion of specific products and sets up “clear terms and
conditions with the user” on its page, which also features safety
information for its diabetes products.

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