The FDA is smacking down on the drug company Duchesnay Inc. for its use of Kim Kardashian West as a spokesperson. The reality star posted an Instagram endorsement of Diclegis, a morning sickness drug for pregnant women.
West didn’t follow strict government guidelines in place for pharmaceutical advertising, according to a letter dated Aug. 7 from the FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion.Primarily, she didn’t include enough information about the drug’s risks. For example, it’s not recommended for women who are sensitive to certain antihistamines, or women who are taking a certain kind of depression drug called Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). This omission violates federal regulations.
“The social media post is false or misleading in that it presents efficacy claims for Diclegis, but fails to communicate any risk information associated with its use and it omits material facts,” the letter read in part. “These violations are concerning from a public health perspective because they suggest that Diclegis is safer than has been demonstrated.”
Instead of listing all of the risks and limitations associated with Diclegis, as prescription drug commercials are supposed to do, West provided a link for more information. The photo, which depicted West holding a bottle of Diclegis, has since been removed from Instagram.
Duchesnay has until Aug. 21 to respond to the FDA’s letter. In the mean time, the agency has requested that the company stop misbranding the drug. They also want the drug company to come up with a comprehensive plan on how to spread the correct message about Diclegis to all the people who may have been exposed to West’s Instagram post.
“To the extent possible, corrective messaging should be distributed using the same media, and generally for the same duration of time and with the safe frequency that the violative promotional material was disseminated,” the letter concluded.
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