example – Wright Medical’s facebook page
Facebook Opens Comments on Device, Drug Manufacturers’ Pages (written by Lauren Uzdienski @ HealthPointCapital)
Facebook reversed a policy this week that exempted device and drug manufacturers from opening their walls, or comment pages, on the site. Manufacturers are generally opposed to open comment pages for compliance reasons – posters can discuss adverse events or off-label uses, both of which can raise red flags for the FDA – and have spoken out against the new rule. Further, many companies are removing their Facebook pages.
As social media became an increasingly important marketing tool, Facebook pages offered companies a way to be accessible to patients, employees and others, giving visitors the chance to “like” the page and form a community. Now companies are questioning whether these pages are worth the risk. This conflict is particularly pronounced in pharma, where manufacturers have been shutting down their Facebook pages. Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Purdue Pharma and Bayer are among the companies closing some of their condition and product pages.
As of this morning, many orthopedics companies had modest Facebook pages, usually focusing on company histories. Wright Medical has one of the more active pages, with an open wall populated with company announcements; no new comments have been posted since Facebook began opening walls on Monday. Regardless of present traffic and the number of “likes”, the new policy is something to keep in mind while designing social media strategies.