Study: FDA Should Increase Social Media Use to Issue Safety Information

A new CDER-funded study says the FDA is not taking full advantage of social media to communicate drug safety information — and should, for example, be making more use of Twitter in its campaigns.

The agency’s social media strategy must keep up with the changing technological landscape, they said. Twitter, for example, has become a key platform for companies, agencies and academic institutions seeking to get their message out. Health professionals have also increased their presence on the platform, suggesting Twitter should play a bigger role in FDA information campaigns.

Researchers from Northwestern University, Harvard Medical School, the Ohio State University and Boston Children’s Hospital analyzed the FDA’s use of social media following two 2013 drug safety communications for products containing zolpidem.