In a recently issued Warning Letter, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cites to an improper use of a company's Facebook page for promoting its own products. Having therapeutic claims on a company's website may be used by FDA to establish that a product is a drug because it is intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease. As such, if your product is not (a) a monograph drug; (b) a DESI drug; or (c) subject to an approved drug application, it may not be legally introduced into interstate commerce. Doing so could lead to allegations of introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce and a violation of section 301(a) of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Interestingly, FDA has lately taken the position that the use of the "like" icon in connection to positive testimonials made about a product line can lend itself to an allegation of misbranding. According to the Warning Letter, the FDA stated that the company's Facebook page "... contains evidence of intended use in the form of personal testimonials recommending or describing the use of products for the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease." The personal testimonials referred to contained positive comments regarding the use of certain product line in alleviating insomnia, pain, cold, or allergy, and marked as "liked" by the company.
The FDA viewed the company’s "liked" as self-endorsement for intended uses that are not approved by FDA. The take home message is actively monitor the comments on your company's Facebook page, when in doubt don't ”like” testimonials of own non-FDA approved product, and perhaps if reasonable seek to disable the "like" icon.
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