When I first started this blog up, I was flattered that Shel Israel picked up on it. He was excited to find a real Pharma blogger. He actually wanted to interview me for some project or other he was working on, but his interest fizzled as he saw how my blog developed. It wasn’t the content (at least I hope it wasn’t), rather it seemed that he had hoped that it would be a real-time interaction, that I would post often and with reckless abandon, that I would name names, and put it all out there.
Shel (if you’re reading this and I’m sure you are since I linked to you), let me remind you: I work in PHARMA….And to add to that, I work in one of the most sensative areas of any Pharma company, Quality Assurance – I handle our dirty laundry. Maybe that’s why you found my blog so intriguing at first, you thought I was going to put it out there anyway. Maybe I’m overstating your disappointment. You’re a busy guy (I know, I follow you on Twitter), but I think I’m at least 80% right on this.
Enough picking on Shel. He’s not alone in his disappointment. Pharma, being subject to what is arguably the most demanding body of regulation of any industry, will continue to frustrate the Web 2.0/interactive social media evangelism/technologist/Twitterite set. Pharma is conservative. Pharma is a late adopter of new technologies and paradigms.
Pharma is very, very gun-shy about being served by a regulatory body, fined, demonized, sued, condemned by congress, or otherwise censured. I have former colleagues who have had to testify before congress about questionable clinical data…not a fun time and I’d like to avoid the experience (at least in that context)
So in conclusion, maybe I’m not a real blogger. Maybe I’m a self-edited, self-published, web columnist who publishes on a very sporadic schedule…that’s a mouth full. I guess I’ll just call myself a pseudo-blogger. And I’m ok with that…at least for now.
~TJK
T. J. Kuhn | GxP Zone 