Does Facebook Know You’re Practicing Cutting-Edge Medicine? Social Media and Clinical Trials

by Jennifer Busick

In an episode of the TV series “Northern Exposure,” the fictional Alaskan hamlet of Cicely is tapped to participate in a drug trial. Residents line up to collect bottles of identical pills, one of which is an investigational new drug that may (or may not) prevent the common cold; the other, of course, is a placebo.

The town’s doctor, Joel Fleischman, is excited about the trial: It’s being conducted under the aegis of Johns Hopkins University, bringing the weight of that institution’s reputation to tiny Cicely. For Fleischman, who attributes Cicely’s selection as a test site to his carefully constructed health database of the town’s citizens, it is a chance to demonstrate he is as good as any doctor from Johns Hopkins.

Fleischman’s right: Hosting a drug, device, or treatment trial carries prestige. A clinical trial that leads to the approval of a new drug or treatment method is a feather in your organization’s cap; an endeavor of applied science in service to a direct human need; a way to enhance and broaden both your visibility and your reputation as a place where cutting-edge care can be found.

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