New 21st Century Cures Act Removes Social Media Provision

The House Energy and Commerce Committee have released a new draft version of the 21st Century Cures Act, which would significantly change how the FDA operates.

An earlier version of this bill included a provision that would basically have written a version of the one-click rule into law and required FDA to

"review each regulation and guidance that applies to the dissemination by means of the Internet (including social media platforms and character-limited applications) of information about medical products" and "treat hyperlinked information ... as if the information" were part of the initial communication.

In essence, Congress was mandating that FDA permit some version of the one-click rule, and revise or withdraw all guidances and regulations that prevented them from doing so.

This language has been completely removed from the latest draft legislation. I haven't seen any coverage of why this provision was dropped, and I was never able to determine where the initial language came from.

So, for now, the idea that legislation will drastically alter the landscape for using social media has taken a set back. But once draft legislative language is out there, it tends to crop up again and again.