Embracing 21st Century Information Sharing: Defining a New Paradigm for the Food and Drug Administration's Regulation of Biopharmaceutical Company Communications with Healthcare Professionals.

Abstract

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays a unique role in protecting the public health and minimizing the risk of the distribution of unsafe or ineffective medicines in the United States. Perhaps equally as important for public health, however, is the need for healthcare professionals to be well informed about the benefits and risks of the medicines they prescribe. In this way, information sharing is critical to healthcare delivery. FDA's current interpretation of laws and regulations governing healthcare communications prohibits biopharmaceutical companies from sharing certain accurate, data-driven information about FDA-approved uses and medically accepted alternative uses of FDA-approved drugs with healthcare professionals. Often, these uses are the standard of care for good medical practice and are, accordingly, reimbursed under the federal healthcare programs. FDA has failed to describe adequately how manufacturers can share truthful and non-misleading information about such uses with healthcare professionals and formulary decision makers. This failure could impede medical innovation, negatively impact patient care, and increase healthcare costs. To improve public health, FDA should reform its current approach and provide manufacturers with a clear safe harbor on how to share data and information on both approved uses and medically accepted alternative uses of FDA-approved drugs with healthcare professionals. This Article describes key principles for a new regulatory paradigm.