This post was mentioned on Twitter by PRforPharma: 5 pharma companies created a joint comment to the FDA on the use of social media. What’s the significance?: http://bit.ly/cJwSxS...

You are right: the scale of what would be required is just not manageable. It makes a lot of sense in theory. For example, I frequently tell my non-pharma clients that it is best to appear in the conversation in some manner rather than being completely absent. But this is dangerous territory for pharma. It’s one thing to be engaged, and a whole different thing to open Pandora’s box. Pharma needs to find that middle ground.

As you know, I totally agree that the cat is out of the bag if pharma allows off-label posts on their SM sites even if accompanied by an explanation and if only for a short period. It's much better to moderate all posts and filter out every one that violates the Terms of Use, which should say that these kinds of posts will not be published at all.