FDA, WebMD Expand Health Information Partnership

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and WebMD Health Corp. have expanded their partnership to provide increased access to FDA’s consumer health information.

The partnership's second phase, announced on Oct. 29, 2009, gives consumers a larger selection of timely information and multimedia tools at www.webmd.com/fda.

One highlight of this new phase is the addition on WebMD of five new sections containing personalized FDA health information. These sections will initially focus on allergies and asthma, children’s health, diabetes, heart health, and vitamins and supplements.

“We see partners like WebMD as critical to helping us reach the public with important health information,” says Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs.

WebMD President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Gattinella says his company is proud to partner with FDA to help Americans live healthier lives. “This collaboration provides health-minded consumers with access to FDA as a source of timely health information focusing on daily issues such as food safety and the safe use of prescription drugs, over the counter medications, and cosmetics,” he says.

Site is Already a Hit

Since the joint effort's launch in December 2008, more than 150,000 consumers have accessed FDA's destination on WebMD for health and wellness information on topics ranging from egg safety to contact lens safety to medicine safety.

In May 2009, FDA’s joint partnership center on WebMD’s site increased the reach of the agency’s warning to stop using an over-the-counter weight loss product after reports of serious health problems associated with the product.

A special WebMD email alert with the warning reached almost 3 million consumers.

FDA’s information is also located within WebMD's homepage (www.webmd.com), WebMD Health News, WebMD Health Search, RSS feeds, and targeted WebMD Newsletters and Special Reports.

The agency's consumer information is also available through WebMD the Magazine, which is distributed 10 times a year and reaches an additional 11 million consumers with each issue.

This article appears on FDA's Consumer Updates page, which features the latest on all FDA-regulated products.

Date Posted: October 29, 2009