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Pharma Marketing Faces a Character-Count Conundrum
this_boat_is_real writes "There's growing concern over how pharmaceutical companies use social media and the Internet to market their products. Last November, the US Food and Drug Administration held a hearing on the topic, and many were worried over how marketing mediums such as Twitter — which has a 140-character limit on text — can sufficiently disclose drug risks." Here's the FDA's announcement about last year's hearings, which includes links to an archive of presentations as well as a video record of the meeting.
What the drug companies should do is to add a disclaimer such as: -
"Though these drugs may work as advertised, their use is not intended for use by residents of the USA. Such residents who wish to employ these drugs should ensure that their employment does not go against laws in their jurisdictions."
All the cool kids today are using URL shorteners. They make it impossible to see where a link is going, make the link's function depend on two 3rd parties rather than just one, and probably provide lots of sneaky analytics data; but they allow you to embed URLs in your tweets, so clearly it's worth it.
.ug TLD. All we have to do is obtain dr.ug and set up a URL shortening service specifically for linking to giant lists of scary sounding side effects from pharma shill tweets. What could be more logical?(Besides, y'know, not fucking direct marketing Prescription Drugs...)
Anyway, the fine nation of Uganda has the
My dealer uses twiiter.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
As if character count is the real worry with how Big Pharma markets their wares? Talk about misdirection and misframing....
Clarification: a MINOR side effect with 0.1% occurrence. I'm not talking about "1 in 1000 dies instantly". I'm talking about "1 in 1000 has a mild headache".
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
"Buy __MIRACLEDRUG__ to cure __DREADDISEASE___. See your doctor before using. May be fatal."
There, as long as __MIRACLEDRUG__ and __DREADDISEASE__ aren't too long I think we've met the 140-character limit and mentioned the worst possible side-effect. Can we archive this discussion now?
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
So they think a 30-second commercial is long enough to disclose drug risks? Or anything else than a many-page highly technical report that assumes the reader knows all the implications of the implications? And when the risks are often not even well-known in the first place?
Perhaps because it was designed with SMS limitations in mind?
I'm a lawyer, but not yours. I wouldn't represent someone who thinks taking legal advice from Slashdot is a good idea.
Yo dawg, I herd you like side effects so we put a Viagra in your Viagra so you can go blind while you get priapism. http://www.viagra.com/
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
I think I'll send a letter to my congresswoman asking for a bill requiring all text ads be at least 141 characters in length.
The cake is a pie
1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890
Tard. dysk.; fever; shaking/sweating/confus./incr. pulse/bloodpress (NMS)
1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890 1234567890
occas. fatal; [mini]strokes 4 psychotic old ppl.; suic. risk; coma; death
Yay!
The messages are limited to the size of an SMS messages since that is how tweeting was originally meant to be done.
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
Quit allowing the advertisement of prescription drugs. The reason that prescription drugs are, well, by prescription, is that they may carry significant risks, and careful evaluation by a professional is required as to whether a patient should take them.
If a patient needs a prescription, let their doctor be the one who gives them their options, based on a full discussion of the risks and benefits of each possible one, and let the patient be the one to decide based on this information. And while we're at it, let's disallow the pharma companies from ever knowing how often a given doctor prescribes their stuff, so that they can't give any type of reward or kickback (they would still, of course, know how often they're prescribed in aggregate).
Medical decisions should be made based upon a detailed discussion with a professional, not a glossy brochure.
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
But we can't let a bureaucrat get between patients and their health care needs! Not even if that bureaucrat is a doctor!
There are only 2 countries which allow "direct to consumer" advertising of prescription drugs - the US and New Zealand, and I'm not 100% about NZ (been a while since I looked). That should tell you something right there.
Sometimes I wonder if the glossy brochure and a few free pens & notepads is all the professional is working off as well.
more 420 would mean less 140 :)
The spelling and grammar police can kiss my ass
Not "may be," "is."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/02/twitter-creator.html
I'm a lawyer, but not yours. I wouldn't represent someone who thinks taking legal advice from Slashdot is a good idea.
In a 140 character twitter message, you can do a bit of unintelligible abbreviation, but even then, 140 characters isn't enough to include the disclaimer ITSELF.
True, but let me see what I can fit into 120 characters, the length of a Slashdot signature:
Have trouble keeping your pecker up? Ask your MD about VIAGRA. (It's not for everyone. For safety info see VIAGRA.com.)
Mod twitter [...] overrated!
I think Twitter is overrated too, but the article takes Twitter's message length limitation as a postulate. It also mentions the similar length limitation in Google text ads.
How about quit allowing drug manufacturers to release drugs with no more than 2 side effects?
What ever happened to "Do no harm"?
The problem isn't fitting the contraindications into a tweet, its having too many contraindications.
If you ban all drug ads, then how do you educate the public that a particular syndrome is treatable?
that's a very good point. before i visited the states i'd never seen an ad on tv for prescription drugs. i can't see how it helps anyone other then the drug company, and their well being doesn't trump the publics.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
By telling all the doctors that some drug exists, who will then tell the people when they go to see them about the new giant growth in their neck.
See?
There's more info in 144 characters than you'll get from the tv commercials.
I think you meant "...to release drugs with more than 2 side effects?" The no there kind of changes it and I'm sure that the pharma companies would gladly oblige.
In reality though, MOST things will have more than a few side effects, that is why they are prescription drugs...if they were completely safe they would be OTC. As far as that goes, even most OTC drugs have more than a few potential side effects they are just more rare and less damaging. If Bristol Myers Squibb proposed Tylenol as a new drug it would almost certainly NOT be given clearance by the modern FDA, it's therapeutic window is just too small, especially in people with liver issues which they might not even know they have.
"Tell your doctor? Tell your doctor?.. Shouldn’t my doctor be telling me?.. When you tell your doctor, isn’t he just a dealer at that point?" -- Bill Maher
wanna bet the law gets changed ?
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
Sometimes I wonder if the glossy brochure and a few free pens & notepads is all the professional is working off as well.
That and the Powerpoint slides from their gratis "training" seminar in the Caribbean.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
how do you educate the public that a particular syndrome is treatable?
By telling all the doctors that some drug exists, who will then tell the people when they go to see them about the new giant growth in their neck.
Unless the people all think that, for example, "the new giant growth in their neck" is a normal part of aging. For example, a patient might be afraid to go see a doctor about sexual dysfunctions for fear of wasting the doctor's time and the patient's money for a visit.
Sounds to me like with the exception of the (possibly) the last bullet point those kind of ads should be banned. They play into people's fears and constant need to "enhance" themselves. These companies are just hoping to make us all hypochondriacs and it seems to be working sadly. The ins and outs of various diseases and medicines should be left to the expert, the doctor, not some half-brained twit who rots their brain watching hours and hours of pharma ads.
Tell your doctor? Tell your doctor?.. Shouldn’t my doctor be telling me?
Medical records aren't yet completely synchronized between health care providers. Part of this is that electronic medical records are relatively new; the other part is HIPAA. Besides, how will your doctor know what side effects you've been feeling if you don't tell your doctor about them?
cialis may b rite 4 u 2day! side fx r: ur ass may leak, <3 atk, u cant sleep. call ur dr if u hav erection 4 more than 4 hrs
"If you ban all drug ads, then how do you educate the public that a particular syndrome is treatable"
Shouldn't the patient be discussing their symptoms to the doctor? I do a review of systems with all of my patients. Unless there is something new, anything that is bothering a patient I should already know about.
end of story.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
The right to free speech is not unlimited. Since it is commercial speech, any law abridging the speech needs to pass intermediate scrutiny - i.e. the law must further an important government interest in a way that is substantially related to that interest. So if the law bans the interest (protecting the health of citizens is important) without going too far (the narrower the better), it would fly.
The real issue is getting the law passed. As far as Congress justifying the law, the commerce clause would easily serve Congress. But special interests could hold it back.
Funny thing is, I heard someone on TV the other day talk about the 140 character limit of SMS. The two are sort of merging in a lot of places. Ick.
You need a prescription, right? So that means you've seen a doctor and a pharmacist if you're taking it, and it was the responsibility of one or both of them to explain all of the risks to you. Too damn bad if you're taking prescription meds without a prescription, you deserve what you get.
The disclaimer is effectively inherent in any legally prescribed medication.
Not intended for off-road use. Best if used before date on carton. May explode if recharged improperly. Contains no artificial colors or ingredients. This product is meant for educational purposes only. Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. List each check separately by bank number. Batteries not included. Contents may settle during shipment. Use only as directed. No other warranty expressed or implied. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Postage will be paid by addressee. This is not an offer to sell securities. Apply only to affected area. May be too intense for some viewers. Do not stamp. Use other side for additional listings. For recreational use only. All models over 18 years of age. If condition persists, consult your physician. No user-servicable parts inside. Simulated picture. Times approximate. No postage necessary if mailed in the United States. Breaking seal constitutes acceptance of agreement. As seen on TV. One size fits all. Many suitcases look alike. Contains a substantial amount of non-tobacco ingredients. Colors may, in time, fade. We have sent the forms which seem to be right for you. For office use only. Not affiliated with the American Red Cross. Edited for television. Post office will not deliver without postage. List was current at time of printing. Not the Beatles. Penalty for private use. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Do not write below this line. Your cancelled check is your receipt. Add toner. Avoid contact with skin. Sanitized for your protection. Sign here without admitting guilt. Slightly higher west of the Mississippi. Employees and their families are not eligible. Contestants have been briefed on some questions before the show. Limited time offer, call now to insure prompt delivery. You must be present to win. Use only in well-ventilated area. Keep away from fire or flame. Approved for veterans. Booths for two or more. Check here if tax deductible. Price does not include taxes. Not recommended for children. No alcohol, dogs, or horses. Restaurant package, not for resale. Packaged by weight, not volume: some settling may occur during shipping. Opened for inspection. Lather, rinse, repeat. Keep out of reach of children. For external use only. Do not exceed recommended dosage. Suggested serving. Do not remove this tag until sold for retail. Dry clean only. Not for use with the Republican party. If left parked for over 10 minutes, may be towed. This product is meant for educational purposes only. Ask your doctor or pharmacist. Do not open. Authorized personnel only. You may have additional rights which vary from state to state. Not recommended for children under 12. Parental guidance is irrelevent. Batteries not included. Does not come with any other figures. Any resemblence to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. Contents may settle during shipment. Use only as directed. No other warranty expressed or implied. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle. Postage will be paid by addressee. Address correction requested. This is not an offer to sell securities. Apply only to affected area. Not for internal use. May be unsettling to some viewers. Do not stamp. Use other side for additional listings. For recreational purposes only. Do not disturb. Must be over 18 or have your parent's permission. If condition persists, consult your doctor. Freshest if eaten before date stamped on carton. Subject to change without notice. Times approximate. No postage necessary if mailed in the United States. Breaking seal constitues acceptance of agreement. Place stamp here. One backup copy may be made. One size fits all. Colors may, in time, fade. Any inperfections are inherent in the material. Slippery when wet. For office use only. Net weight before cooking. Post Office will not deliver without postage. Keep cool; process promptly. List current at time of printing. At participating locations only. Penalty for private use. See label for sequence. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Licensed f
Online backup with Mozy, sounds like Ozzie, but more!
The disclosure laws are there for a reason. If you can't satisfy their requirements in a tweet then you can't advertise pharmaceuticals on Twitter. If you can't satisfy them in a Google ad then you can't advertise pharmaceuticals in a Google ad.
This isn't affecting any one company over another or anything like that. It's just following the laws to their conclusion -- and, really, going right along with their intention. Putting a drug in your body is of much greater consequence than what company you buy your mass-produced junk from, and these laws make sure drug companies can't just do snappy, feel-good 10-second spots with no substance whatsoever like beer companies and cola companies.
A big part of advertising is repeating a brand name over and over. There's an impression made by hearing a brand name in association with positive images or text, even if you aren't very involved with the ad. The disclosure laws try to prevent companies from just spamming you with impressions and making sure there is substantial information right up front. If it's behind a link, as many of these companies propose, that's all lost. The casual eye skips over, gets the positive impression and none of the disclosure.
So... within our current framework if there's no room to disclose right up front there should be no ad at all. Maybe the disclosure laws suck, maybe the fact that drugs are advertised at all sucks... those are separate points. As the law stands now, no Twitter ads for Viagra. Yay!
Already happens, see alcohol and tobacco advertising restrictions. Previous SCOTUS rulings oked them. The current SCOTUS may not, but we may get lucky and have Scalia or Thomas die.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
After reading this (and other comments in a similar vein) I can see more clearly what is wrong with commercialised healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry in the USA. For all us non-Americans out in the real world, the title of that patriotic song "God Save America" might be changed to "God Save Us From America".
... I am regularly amazed by the sheer number of pharma ads on television. Depending on the time of day I can see anywhere between 50 to 100% of the ads on TV being about pharma products.
I'd worry about getting those ones down before I worried about the Internet ones.
I'd think that if only 1 in 1000 people taking the pill experience a headache then it should be marketed as a cure for headaches, seeing as the portion of the population at any given moment with headaches is probably much higher than that.
So you get to be a super villain for a week or two, but you have to die at the end?
More than a few people might consider that a worthwhile trade.
I believe everyone here is talking about prescription drugs, not vitamins or OTC meds.
Entrepreneur : (noun), French for "unemployed"
After reading this (and other comments in a similar vein) I can see more clearly what is wrong with commercialised healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry in the USA.
Sure you can. I simply don't see the problem with phantonfive's post. The First Amendment really is one of the things that the US has going for it. I don't favor screwing that up just to hypothetically protect some dumb people.
FIne lets take "human rights" away from corporations thou.
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
You can quite easily run an ad saying "Do you have a giant neck growth? Help may be available for you, consult your doctor!" without advocating a specific treatment.
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
That's certainly what I meant, at least. If a drug is safe enough to let people buy it off a grocery store shelf without consulting a doctor, we're talking about a different story. Folic acid, shampoo, and cough medicine are not generally prescription drugs, nor are suicide help hotlines.
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
it's like you've got no grip on what happens in the real world.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
SMS actually has a limitation of 140 bytes or 140*8 bits, which are also 160*7 bits. AFAIK both 7bit and 8bit encodings are supported, but usually 7bit is used.
Free speech is never absolute, and certainly never in a commercial setting. For example, your doctor cannot go post your medical records on a public website. That's free speech, but HIPAA bans it, and I think you'd find arguing that a doctor should be exempt from HIPAA on free speech grounds not to meet the reception you'd expect in court.
In advertising specifically, tobacco and alcohol ads are already restricted. Indeed, a mandate of disclosures (and a requirement that advertising be true) are all allowable restrictions.
And I say this as someone who will ardently defend the freedom of speech, even down to things one finds disgusting or shocking or distasteful. But speech when you're trying to sell something is different altogether. Speech when you're selling something that could have significant risks, ten times so. No constitutional amendment is required here.
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
I think you missed my point. I wasn't referring to OTC products.
Also listing symptoms will make some people think they have them.
It's not the count of the characters, but the content of their character that is the problem with big pharma.
If you ban all drug ads, then how do you educate the public that a particular syndrome is treatable?
I thought the way it worked was that a patient develops some sort of disorder or symptoms that causes him to seek out a doctor who can make the actual diagnoses and determine the best course of treatment. Why would a patient necessarily need to know about new treatment options if they have a competent doctor that they see regularly? Shouldn't the doctor be the one to decide if a new treatment is right?
The argument is that drug advertising often causes people to seek out unnecessary, expensive treatments, sometimes for conditions which they don't really have. Why do people to it? We probably all want to fix ourselves in some way, and what would be better than a magic pill or ointment? That's how snake oil salesmen got their start and the drug companies appear all to aware of this, churning out shiny new patented drugs that in only a few years are determined to be ineffective or worse.
Sick people in US (and only in US) are afraid to see doctors because they expect treatment to be unaffordable, ineffective or both. As a result, pharmaceutical companies believe, they NEED ads hawking their drugs, so after seeing the ad few thousand times a person will finally drag his ass to a hospital and annoy a doctor into prescribing something. Then hopefully that person won't throw a prescription into trash after learning how much it will cost.
This is what happens when pharmaceutical price gouging and insurance companies' machinations reach their logical conclusion -- no one can afford anything. I see the next bailout coming in a few years to them.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
Why would a patient necessarily need to know about new treatment options if they have a competent doctor that they see regularly?
In the United States, a lot of people see an MD as needed instead of regularly. This can happen because of lack or limitations of health insurance or just because a set of symptoms appear between regular visits.
As a disclaimer for twitter, I recommend appending "U may die." to the end of every ad. At least it's more adult-sounding than "Ur so ded."
Coffee is my drug of choice.
If you ban all drug ads, then how do you educate the public that a particular syndrome is treatable?
Don't they tell these things to their doctor?
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Seeing a doctor isn't free. The help seeking ad tells the public that a particular set of complaints is something that would be worth a patient's time and money to tell about to a doctor.
Interesting ... didn't know NZ allowed it too.
My home is Australia but I've spent a decent amount of time in both the US (several years) and NZ (4 or 5 months). I don't remember seeing a single prescription drug ad in NZ, but in the US geez, there's one every ad break. I think there must be some serious limitations on the NZ version of the law allowing it ... either that or a cultural difference that just doesn't make it as worthwhile for the pharma companies.
As a condition of access to your health records doctors are prohibited from disclosing them. This has nothing to do with free speech. Restrictions against fraudulent advertising also have nothing to do with free speech. (Temperance laws against alcohol and cigarette advertising are certainly in violation, no matter how much they try to justify it as protecting the children, but all sorts of rights are thrown out in name of virtuousness.) Whether something is being sold is irrelevant, because every instance of speech can be interpreted as selling something, just like every advertisement can be seen as transmitting educational information.
While I find any type of advertising revolting, in itself advertising is clearly protected as free speech, and the majority of the citizens want it that way as evidenced by their willingness to pay to view advertisements.
...until they both get their act together and allow for messages >160 characters. This is absolutely the most ridiculous restriction in the 21st century I have ever seen. 1120 bits per message? Seriously? It's like we're living in the 80s with 300 baud modems on our mobiles or something...so ridiculous! And the cost is even more outrageous. In the U.S. most companies charge 20 cents per message... That's $1497 per MiB! WTF is wrong with this picture?
Google Buzz has vastly improved upon the Twitter concept, allowing attachments of images, links, etc. with no character limit. I really hope twitter will soon die the miserable death it deserves...
I'd prefer if they didn't advertise controlled substances.
marketing keeps corporations alive, no matter what the are in business of doing.
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
Anyone who buys drugs, or more importantly, has selected a physician who can be convinced to prescribe said drugs, on the basis of what the drug company put up on a social networking site deserve's to be removed from the gene pool.
If your kids are watching TV (let alone the advertisements), then you are part of the problem.
Yeah, right.
FIne lets take "human rights" away from corporations thou.
Corporations are organizations composed of humans and owned by humans. We take away "human rights" from corporations, we're taking them away from those humans.
That argument makes no sense. They have the human rights that everyone has. Why should they get extra human rights?
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
That argument makes no sense. They have the human rights that everyone has. Why should they get extra human rights?
They don't get extra rights. You just say that they do.
So if I own a business, I get my human rights, and I get to exercise the human rights of my corporation. That means I have VASTLY more rights then I normally would. Now lets say I'm an Arab oil shiek, and I own a company in the US. I now have the right to funnel all of my money to change the policy in the US. You want that? Honestly? If thats your position, then obviously you have issues, and I question your ability to comprehend what the repercussions of giving human rights to corporations are. They do call them human rights for a reason anyways.
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
I don't think prescription medicines can be advertised in New Zealand. At least I don't see ads for them on TV. It really amazed me to see all the pharmaceutical ads when I was in the US.
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Ah, a smug foreigner. You're the only thing more common on slashdot than *nix discussions.
I hate to be the one to break it to you, buddy, but your country's shit stinks, too.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
Wrong. We don't allow prescription drug advertising (except for unsubsidised non-special authority ones, such as Losec for heartburn, and the two ED medications).
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
many were worried over how marketing mediums such as Twitter — which has a 140-character limit on text — can sufficiently disclose drug risks."
Let's see...
You were saying?
Plus, I'm sure people aren't using stand-alone twitter messages to actually sell the products. They probably include links to web pages, which don't have size limits. Worrying about Twitter size limits and ability to not include lengthy warnings is like that Teletype manager-type guy who picked capital letters instead of lower-case letters because you can't spell 'God' right with only lower-case letters. Societal norms are bound to collide with technology when the technical limitations are seen oh good heavens I need coffee I started rambling again.
So if I own a business, I get my human rights, and I get to exercise the human rights of my corporation. That means I have VASTLY more rights then I normally would.
No, it doesn't. First, you are merely exercising your human rights. Second, suppose my first assertion were incorrect. Even in that case, anyone can create and use a corporation, enjoying whatever rights there might be. So there's no restriction of rights or special rights reserved for certain people.
EASY solution. Make it illegal to market prescription medication to consumers. Patients should not be going to their doctors asking for drugs. Doctors should be making diagnoses, and prescribing the appropriate drug for the patient's condition. It's dishonest and dangerous.
One never knows when one might need a rotten tomato... - King's Quest IV: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow