PrintIn 2009, executives at the marketing firm Bridge Worldwide and analytics company Nielsen conducted an analysis of how long it would take a drug firm to find "reportable" adverse events (i.e., those that meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements). They concluded that "it takes a long time before a discussion with a reportable adverse event pops up."
Is this bad for the public's health? Is social media (outside of dedicated social networks like iGuard and PatientsLikeMe useless for tracking adverse events in the real world? Will patients be harmed by unverifiable side effect reports they find on social media sites? What's your take?
