This slide show on Top 10 Pharma Efforts In Social Media has been getting traction on Slideshare.net (2,400 views and 20 people have "favorited" it), so thought I'd share it here as well.

I've been doing social media consulting for a company in the health care/pharmaceutical space, and so I've been trying to immerse myself more deeply in how social media can be of value — to patients, doctors and companies — in the health care space.

This is now particularly timely, given the Food and Drug Administration's public hearing on the "Promotion of Food and Drug Administration-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools" on Nov. 12-13. Among the issues to be addressed: adverse event reporting; fulfilling regulations; accountability; posting corrections, links, and opt-in choices. You can vote your conscience at this online survey.

It's a much-needed clearing of the air, given that regulatory uncertainty has held back the industry from interacting with the public to a considerable degree. Pharma blogger John Mack is helping lead the charge in getting the public to respond to the FDA's questions regarding its regulation of social media. I'm with those who say, yes, social media does fundamentally change the landscape and require a rethinking of decades-old practices. (I think the FDA should take a page from the FTC in placing emphasis on disclosure of payments coming from the industry.)

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