Privacy Group Calls for New Online Drug Ad Regs

A group that promotes online privacy called for new regulations on pharmaceutical companies in a Food and Drug Administration filing that blasted how these companies advertise online.

The Center for Digital Democracy said that online behavioral targeting by corporations in the health-related fields pose significant risks to consumers and must be further investigated. "It is essential that the FDA craft regulatory safeguards for Internet-related promotion, especially since interactive communications will become the dominant form for the delivery of health information and advertising to both consumers and health professionals," CDD's executive director Jeff Chester said. The FDA had requested comments, due this week, on how companies promote FDA-regulated medical products using the Internet, including social media sites. The Internet has "raised questions and concerns over how to apply existing regulations to promotion in these newer media," according to the FDA's background on its proceeding. In particular, the Web has created challenges for figuring out how to state mandatory information, such as a drug's side effects. Chester's group pushed beyond these compliance concerns to raise questions about how pharmaceutical companies might use online marketing tools to prey on consumer anxieties. "Few U.S. health consumers are aware that they are being identified, labeled, profiled, and tracked on the Internet while they search or access information on specific conditions or concerns," CDD's statement said.