The underbelly of E-cigarette advertising: regulating online markets on social media platforms.

Australia prohibits the sale of nicotine-vaping products unless prescribed by medical practitioners. Significant policy reforms were announced on the 28th of November 2023 including a ban on single-use disposable vapes with and without nicotine, and the removal of the personal importation scheme. Despite stringent regulations, loopholes exist such that e-cigarette vendors are getting around it, and online markets provide a route to do so. We discuss strategies used by vendors to covertly market e-cigarettes online through social media. In this perspective, we highlight three proposed policies to strengthen social media regulations that may be feasible to implement. Our proposed strategies to regulate e-cigarette product listings on social media involve implementing robust age verification measures, enhancing the system for flagging and reporting prohibited content, and developing a more effective system to identify and flag content related to e-cigarettes.

Fake News em tempos de COVID-19 e seu tratamento jurídico no ordenamento brasileiro / Fake News in times of COVID-19 and its legal treatment in Brazilian law / Fake News en tiempos de COVID-19 y su tratamiento legal en la legislación brasileña

Objetivo: refletir sobre o tratamento jurídico dispensado aos casos das Fake News relacionados à COVID-19 no campo do Direito brasileiro. Método: estudo de reflexão tendo como referencial as consequências da aplicação do arcabouço jurídico brasileiro aos casos de Fake News sobre COVID-19. As fontes são oriundas de outro estudo com lacunas deixadas no sentido das aplicações pelo ordenamento jurídico. Para discussão, balizou-se o enquadramento das Fake News ao ordenamento jurídico. Resultados: são oriundos de estudo anterior que identificou e agrupou as Fake News encontradas no banco de dados do Ministério da Saúde por temas, a saber: discursos de autoridades na saúde, terapêutica, medidas de prevenção, prognósticos da doença e vacinação. Considerações finais e implicações para prática: foi possível depreender que a prática de compartilhamento de mensagens, imagens, áudios e/ou vídeos realizadas por diversos indivíduos nas redes sociais, sem a preocupação de se verificar se são verídicas, é um ato que pode ser configurado como crime

Objective: to reflect on the legal treatment given to the Fake News cases related to COVID-19 in the field of Brazilian law. Method: Reflection study based on the consequences of applying the Brazilian legal framework to the Fake News cases on COVID-19. The sources come from another study with gaps left in the sense of applications by the legal system. For discussion, the framing of false news to the legal system was marked out. Results: They come from a previous study that identified and grouped as False News found in the Ministry of Health database by themes, a saber: speeches by health authorities, therapeutics, preventive measures, prognosis of the disease and vaccination. Final considerations and conclusion for practice: It was possible to conclude that the practice of sharing messages, images, audios and / or videos performed by several members of social networks, without the concern of verifying whether they are true, is an act that can be configured as a crime

Objetivo: reflexionar sobre el tratamiento legal dado a los casos de Fake News relacionados con COVID-19 en el ámbito del derecho brasileño. Método: Estudio de reflexión basado en las consecuencias de la aplicación del marco legal brasileño a los casos de Fake News sobre COVID-19. Las fuentes provienen de otro estudio con lagunas dejadas en el sentido de aplicaciones por parte del sistema legal. Para la discusión, se marcó el encuadre de noticias falsas al sistema judicial. Resultados: Provienen de un estudio previo que identificó y agruparon como Noticias Falsas encontradas en la base de datos del Ministerio de Salud por temas, un sable: discursos de las autoridades sanitarias, terapéuticas, medidas preventivas, pronóstico de la enfermedad y vacunación. Consideraciones finales y conclusión para la práctica: Se pudo concluir que la práctica de compartir mensajes, imágenes, audios y / o videos realizada por varios miembros de las redes sociales, sin la preocupación de verificar si son verdaderos, es un acto que puede ser configurado como delito

Exposure and reach of the US court-mandated corrective statements advertising campaign on broadcast and social media.

OBJECTIVE: As a remedy to committing fraud and violating civil racketeering laws, in November 2017, four major tobacco companies were court-ordered to develop and disseminate corrective statements regarding smoking health risks using mass media channels. We aimed to describe the nature, timing, reach of and exposure to the court-mandated tobacco industry corrective advertising campaign on social, broadcast and print media. METHODS: Data from social, print and broadcast media were used to measure potential exposure to corrective messages. Keyword rules were used to collect campaign-related posts from the Twitter Firehose between November 2017 and January 2018. Data were analysed using a combination of machine learning, keyword algorithms and human coding. Posts were categorised by source (commercial/institutional, organic) and content type (eg, sentiment). Analysis of social media data was triangulated with ratings data for television advertising and print advertising expenditure data. RESULTS: Keyword filters retrieved 13 846 tweets posted by 9232 unique users. The majority of tweets were posted by institutional/commercial sources including news organisations, bots and tobacco control-related accounts and contained links to news and public health-related websites. Approximately 60% of campaign-related tweets were posted during the first week of campaign launch. Household exposure to the televised corrective advertisements averaged 0.56 ads per month. DISCUSSION: The corrective campaign failed to generate social media engagement. The size and timing of the advertising buys were not consistent with strategies effective in generating high sustained impact and audience reach, particularly among youth.

Insta-grated Plastic Surgery Residencies: The Rise of Social Media Use by Trainees and Responsible Guidelines for Use.

BACKGROUND: Ethical guidelines for appropriate use of social media are beginning to be delineated. As social media becomes ingrained in plastic surgery culture, education of residents on appropriate use of social media is increasingly important. Recently, plastic surgery residency programs have begun to utilize social media. OBJECTIVES: This study characterized the trends and content of plastic surgery residency-associated Instagram accounts. METHODS: Active individual residency program Instagram accounts were identified for integrated plastic surgery programs. Metrics for each account were retrieved on September 16, 2017, including date of first post, number of posts, and followers. Individual posts were analyzed for content of post. RESULTS: Fourteen of 67 (21%) integrated plastic surgery programs were found to have active Instagram accounts. There has been an exponential growth of programs adopting Instagram since August 2015. A total of 806 posts were created. Thirty-two (3.97%) posts had intraoperative photos and only one (0.12%) showed a patient image. There were 4466 followers of plastic surgery residency programs. A linear correlation was found between number of posts and number of followers, while there was no correlation of number of followers and time since account start. CONCLUSIONS: Instagram use by plastic surgery integrated programs continues to grow exponentially, and programs are appropriately using the platform. Active use of the resident social media results in increased influence. Resident use of social media has many benefits. We propose social media guidelines for plastic surgery trainees and advocate for continued appropriate use and autoregulation by plastic surgery trainees.

Patient's Privacy Violation on Social Media in the Surgical Area.

In the new era of mobile technologies and social media, patient's privacy is at risk. Surgical patients have high visual appeal and may be vulnerable because a significant proportion of cases consist of emergency and trauma, in which patients are frequently unconscious. This study aims to identify the most vulnerable health providers to share patient's confidential data on social media in the surgical environment and their awareness of the confidentiality rules and laws. We surveyed medical graduates, surgical residents, and attending surgeons from a quaternary university hospital. Demographic data, usage and frequency of mobile apparatus, social media access, patient's data dissemination, and knowledge of laws and rules governing patient's privacy were recorded. One hundred fifty-six individuals (52 graduates, 51 residents, and 53 attending surgeons; mean age 24, 28, and 59 years, respectively) participated in the study. Patient's information was shared on social media by 53 per cent of the graduates, 86 per cent of the residents, and 32 per cent of the attending surgeons (P < 0.05). Confidentiality preservation policies were unknown to 69 per cent of graduates, 80 per cent of residents, and 62 per cent of attending surgeons (P = 0.124). Awareness of protocols to guide health-care professionals about safer use of social media was 0 per cent for graduates, 15 per cent for residents, and 22 per cent for attending surgeons (P = 0.002). Residents were the most vulnerable to share patient's information on social media compared with graduates and attending surgeons. Health institutions should promote continuing education in medical ethics, focussing on residents.

The Role of Social Networks, Medical-Legal Climate, and Patient Advocacy on Surgical Options: A New Era.

The dissemination of information online and resultant public discourse through social media and other online channels has influenced the practice of medicine in dramatic ways. Physicians have historically worked to develop new techniques and devices for the benefit of their patients. It is only a more recent phenomenon, however, that these tools are either removed or their use is curtailed largely driven by anecdotal reports; passionate, vocal, often media-savvy advocates; and plaintiff attorneys. The use of power morcellation, hysteroscopic tubal sterilization, and mesh in urogynecologic procedures all have been victims of these societal pressures. It is important for health care professionals to be involved in the debate to ensure that public outcry does not unduly influence what we, as clinicians, are able to safely offer our patients. By being better advocates for our field, our instruments, and our patients, we can ensure medical decision-making is driven by good science and not public fervor.

(R)evolution: toward a new paradigm of policy and patient advocacy for expanded access to experimental treatments.

In life-threatening conditions such as cancer and rare diseases, where there is no cure and no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapy, patients sometimes seek access to an unapproved, experimental therapy through expanded access programs as their last, best hope for treatment to save their lives. Since the 1980s, the policies and the practice of expanded access have evolved, but a common challenge remains that there is no obligation, and often little incentive, for manufacturers to offer expanded access programs, especially for individual patients. In recent years, online campaigns seeking access to an experimental therapy have become more common, paralleling growth in and representing an intersection of social media, digital health, and patient advocacy.Mackey and Schoenfeld have examined the evolution of expanded access policy, practice, and trends, as well as case studies of online campaigns to access experimental therapies, to arrive at several recommendations for the future of expanded access. This commentary puts their paper in context, examines their recommendations, and suggests further reforms.Please see related article: https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-016-0568-8.

Guidelines for ethical and professional use of social media in a hand surgery practice.

In growing numbers, patients are using social media platforms as resources to obtain health information and report their experiences in the health care setting. More physicians are making use of these platforms as a means to reach prospective and existing patients, to share information with each other, and to educate the public. In this ever-expanding online dialogue, questions have arisen regarding appropriate conduct of the physician during these interactions. The purpose of this article is to review the laws that govern online communication as they pertain to physician presence in this forum and to discuss appropriate ethical and professional behavior in this setting.