What the 2023 PMCPA Social Media Guidance means for you

This article was written by Becca Norton and edited by Carolina Duarte, Alex Teckkam and Laura Higgins

The long-awaited PMCPA social media guidance was published in February 2023 which we at medDigital are particularly enthusiastic about. 

Firstly, our Medical Director Dr Felix Jackson was a representative on the ABPI Social Media Consultation, which was formed to develop specific guidance on the use of social media by pharmaceutical companies. Therefore, Felix was able to provide the benefit of his extensive digital and compliance knowledge to input on what he felt companies need guidance on. 

Secondly, we think the PMCPA and ABPI have done a great job with the guidance. It delivers on its aims and supports a lot of the advice that we have been providing companies now for many years. We believe it will really help to navigate the complex and conflicting information on what can and can’t be done, ultimately giving individuals the confidence to use social media positively and compliantly. 

There are key features of the guidance that add to our existing understanding of social media ABPI Code requirements. These include:

These key features help to answer many commonly asked questions, some of which Felix addressed in our series of medDigital PMCPA social media webinars. 

Click on the questions below to see our webinar highlight videos with Felix’s responses. 

Could a company post non-promotional social media posts which relate to promotional events?

The new guidance says social media can be used to host information for patients in secured sections – what does this mean? Is a closed Facebook group a secure section?

What about my social media posts before I joined pharma? Do they need to be expunged? Am I or my company responsible for those if they’re still live?

Are we responsible for the social media activities of our strategic partnerships, e.g., if we work with a charity and they post about our drug?

Are job bag number and date of prep required on social media posts?

If you are still confused about any social media activities, please feel free to get in touch to see how we can help.