The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said reality “star” Kardashian’s recent social media posts have violated strict federal drug-promotion rules. The posts related to a drug called Diclegis, The Verge reports.
The issue has arisen after Kardashian ran a series of promotions for a prescription pill designed to treat morning sickness. The celebrity ran a blanket campaign across her social media accounts, including Instagram and Facebook. Kardashian is paid to endorse the pill. Such endorsements are potentially big bucks. Kardashian has 42 million followers on the photo-driven site Instagram and another 25 million fans on Facebook.
Diclegis is a prescription-only medication, available to women, if a medical practitioner thinks it will be suitable, to women who do not respond to standard medications.
In the posts Kardashian discusses her struggles with nausea due to her current pregnancy. The television star is expecting a baby boy with her husband, the pop singer Kanye West. In one post, she bemoans: “I tried changing things about my lifestyle, like my diet, but nothing helped, so I talked to my doctor. He prescribed me #Diclegis, and I felt a lot better and most importantly, it’s been studied and there was no increased risk to the baby.”
In each of the posts, Pharmaceutical Processing reports, Kardashian has linked to the company’s website. The link includes FDA drug information. However, as none of the posts explicitly mentions the side-effects that the pill can cause, the view of the FDA is that the posts break marketing rules for medications. Furthermore, warnings about not combing the pill with the consumption of alcohol are also ignored. Another important warning is that Diclegis should not be taken by women with a form of prolonged vomiting.
The situation has led to FDA posting a warning letter addressed to the head of the manufacturer – Canadian drugmaker Duchesnay Inc. In the letter, the agency states they are “concerned that Duchesnay is continuing to promote Diclegis in a violative manner.”
Kim Kardashian has not responded to the issue. However, her social media sites have been updated.
