Generation Patient applauds Senator Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Braun (R-IN) for their joint letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf to inquire about the oversight of pharmaceutical advertisements on social media.
In January 2024, Generation Patient executive director Sneha Dave and director of operations Sydney Reed, with Dartmouth professor Dr. Steven Woloshin, published an opinion piece in STAT News. Soon after, Senator Durbin's office released this letter requesting several questions and highlighting concerns, some of which were based on areas of concern we have identified, including addressing the potential influence of comment sections when influencers advertise prescription drugs.
Generation Patient has been pushing for the Food and Drug Administration to update its 2014 guidance and host a public workshop last held in 2009. In addition, Generation Patient has advocated increasing coordination between the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration to ensure oversight of these advertisements.
Sneha Dave has also lectured at the University of Pennsylvania on increasing oversight of these advertisements on social media and spoke at a recent Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy meeting.
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Generation Patient is a nonprofit advocating for young adults with chronic and rare conditions. The young adult patient-led organization leads peer support, health policy, and research programming. Generation Patient does not take any funds from the private healthcare industry.