Social Media Disease Claims Earn Warning Letter
Review old social posts
Claims on social media can tip the scale to a warning letter.
This warning letter is interesting. It includes topical products marketed as drugs, animal “drug” claims, and more, but today, I will be focusing on the social media claims.
Please also forgive the brevity of this Warning Letter Wednesday as I am on a road trip visiting graduate schools with my daughter.
FDA looks at the 10,000-foot view of a company’s online persona. One claim in isolation is probably not enough to trigger a warning letter unless it is very egregious (e.g., COVID). The agency chooses claims from all marketing, such as socials, websites, and YouTube, and pieces them together for one big picture of non-compliance.
Most of the highest-risk claims in this warning letter are on social media.
From warning letter. “On your Facebook account. June 27, 2022: • Under the heading “Benefits of Spirulina” [an ingredient in Fulvic Green]: − “[C]an reduce risk of cancer.”
This shows how discussing ingredient benefits is a marketing claim. Since the post cited in the warning letter is almost two years old, it shows that even old social posts are active marketing in the eyes of FDA. The moral here is to review your old social post to ensure no “forgotten” high-risk disease claims are there.
From warning letter. “On your Facebook account post, dated June 20, 2022:CAN PREVENT SEI-ZURES…used in traditional ayurvedic medi-cines as a cure for sei-zures and convulsions.”
Discussing traditional use claims in this content is a disease claim and is therefore considered labeling.
Read the full letter here.
Disclaimer: The educational information provided here is for informational purposes only. Contact an attorney for specific legal advice. Rule #1 in compliance is to ensure marketing is truthful and not misleading.