MS patients have an “insatiable appetite” for information about treatments online, particularly the new class of oral treatments, whose manufacturers could be doing more to prep them for switch conversations, a survey suggests.
Use social networks to fight childhood obesity, says AHA
The American Heart Association is trying to get us thinking about using social networks—in both the old-school, interpersonal connections sense as well as the newer electronic one—to tackle childhood obesity.
Pfizer, J&J, Novartis and Sanofi tops in social media, say patients
Hearing patient activists and pharma and agency execs talk about connecting through social and other online channels brings to mind a room full of awkward wallflowers at a high school dance.
Remedy Health buys HealthCentral, promises broader ad reach
Health information site HealthCentral has been acquired by Remedy Health, a multimedia provider of content and tools designed to help people manage disease, the firms said today.
WEGO Health is launching an ad-supported online video network, dubbed WEGOHealth.tv, that will feature “conversation-style videos” featuring its medical subject matter expert “health activists.”
GlaxoSmithKline and Human Genome Sciences launched a patient community for lupus sufferers and their friends and family, in anticipation of an FDA decision on Benlysta in March.
Patient advocacy influential in drug development, says panel
Patient advocacy groups are an increasingly valuable resource for pharma manufacturers and FDA throughout the drug development process, since they provide, among other things, a crucial perspective, according to a New York Pharma Forum panel last week.
In “Wild West” of Facebook sites, snakeoil salesmen abound
Social networks are a “Wild West” of medical misinformation, a study has found. More than one in four comments on Facebook diabetes communities is promotional in nature, generally for unapproved products, Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers said.