Reaction to “Facebook yanks misleading HIV lawsuit ads after protest, headlines and fact-check”
In a recent article by FiercePharma, social media industry giant Facebook has decided to pull all advertisements from personal injury law firms pertaining to alleged side effects of Gilead’s Truvada pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention. This was brought about after protest from LGBTQ organizations led by GLAAD, independent fact-checking by Science Feedback, and a signed letter of more than 50 groups.
Law firms’ claims to recruit plaintiffs that are gay and bisexual men adversely effected by Truvada PrEP causing bone density and kidney issues are grossly unfounded. In effect, these unfounded claims that blow side effects grossly out of proportion with the benefits of this drug hurts patients most at-risk. Their advertising efforts did more to ward people most at risk for HIV infection away from seeking this highly effective (99%) prophylactic treatment.
Facebook is a website that self-censures and in a society where they are an industry leader in digital marketing, they have to be held to the highest standard. The lines have all been blurred between what is digital marketing, pharmaceutical marketing, legal marketing and consumer marketing. Facebook took the correct course of action in fact-checking these claims after the fact, but these ads have already been viewed millions of times so the damage is done.
The irreversible damage that these types of “fake” ads have on companies like Gilead is dwarfed only by the irreversible damage they have on public health of at-risk communities. HIV is now a preventative illness that can be treated pre-exposure and post-infection. Gilead’s Truvada is marketed as a safe and effective pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment that can prevent HIV AIDS, the scourge of the 20th century. Marketing within the pharmaceutical industry is highly regulated down to the exact words. It's time legal and social media marketers begin following these same regulations when marketing drug information for the 21st century.
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