From now through March 26, the FDA is accepting public comments on its proposed rules to govern how pharmaceutical companies use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

According to the draft rules, unsolicited requests for information made via social media sites should be responded to privately and not via social media.

Pharmaceutical companies are asking for more guidance from the FDA. They want to know how to handle other potentially tricky social media situations such as:

• Whether they are liable for information posted by others on their social media site. For example, if a doctor or patient posts bad information on a social media site for particular drug or drug company, who is liable if someone relies on that information?
• What to do about drug adverse event, or side effect, reports left on social media sites instead of through proper channels?

What do you think about drug companies’ use of social media? Is it useful to you or do you think it could be potentially dangerous? Please leave a comment with your thoughts on this important topic.

Last month, the FDA announced that it would be conducting a safety review of Pradaxa. Pradaxa is a blood thinning drug typically used in patients who suffer from non-valvular atrial fibrillation. The drug is intended to thin the blood to prevent blood clots from traveling to the brain and causing stroke.

Currently the FDA is investigating whether dangerous bleeding in Pradaxa patients is occurring more commonly than should be expected.

While the FDA believes that Pr૚axa provides important benefits, it is urging doctors to closely follow the recommendations on the drug warning label. Patients taking Pradaxa should continue to do so as directed by their doctor and review any concerns or potential warning signs of dangerous side effects with their physicians.

A recent study from the University of Massachusetts Medical School has found a possible link between the use of statin drugs to lower cholesterol and diabetes in postmenopausal women. While the study, published in a recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine could not definitively connect an increased risk of diabetes due to statins, this study joins others that have concluded there is a possible link between the potentially dangerous drugs and the disease.

If you take statins and are concerned about your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes then it is important to speak to your doctor about your concerns and about the right treatment for you.

Last week, the results of a new study that looked at the effect of SSRI antidepressants on newborn children were released. The study found that children born to mothers who used SSRIs (such as Prozac and Zoloft) during pregnancy were more likely to be born with pulmonary hypertension or high blood pressure in the lungs. Specifically, women who take SSRIs late in pregnancy were twice as likely to have an infant born with pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension can create difficulties breathing and heart failure. While the study stops short of saying that the SSRIs caused pulmonary hypertension, the researchers are encouraging women to talk to their doctors about their risks and about other possible ways to treat depression during pregnancy.