Kim Kardashian's social media post about the morning sickness drug that she was using came under fire from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a consequence, Canadian drugmaker Duchesnay, which hired her to plug her morning sickness medication, is now in trouble.
Kim Kardashian, with tens of millions of followers, posted on Twitter and Instagram, about her enthusiasm on Duchesnay U.S. morning sickness treatment, Washington Post reports.
"OMG. Have you heard about this? As you guys know my #morningsickness has been pretty bad," Kardashian posted on Instagram, which she also linked to her Twitter late last month. With over 34 million Twitter followers and 42 million Instagram fans, Kardashian's message would be easily picked by Kardashian nation... and the FDA.
Alarmed by her post, the agency sent a memorandum to Duchesnay dated Aug. 7ordering the company to get it down.
"These violations are concerning from a public health perspective because they suggest that Diclegis is safer than has been demonstrated," Robert Dean of the FDA's Prescription Drug Promotion office wrote in the Friday memo.
While Kardashian then linked her post to the drug's website, still, FDA ruled it was not enough to attest to the product's safety or effectiveness.
According to Kardashian's rep, Ina Treciokas, her post was already removed last Monday.
"Kim gave her personal experience and ran this statement by the company, and the company signed off on it," Treciokas said. "Any additional questions should be directed at the company."
FDA also wants Duchesnay to submit a detailed plan not later than Aug 21 on how it will prevent future violations.
Duchesnay, meanwhile, issued a statement, guaranteeing that it would "effectively address any issues."
With social media as a leading platform in promoting products and gaining more consumers, the FDA was alarmed that the public might be misled by the information available online. The agency already suggested as early as last year that there should be a guideline that would specify how to use social media in promoting FDA-regulated medical products.
