Keep unsolicited-request response material scientific in tone, not promotional
AI-verifiedwarningFDA guidance · non-bindingRaised as a question — a person decides
Rule
The material used to respond to an unsolicited request should be scientific in tone and presentation, not promotional.
Check
Review the tone, formatting, and framing of the response for promotional characteristics (e.g., persuasive language, marketing design elements) rather than a scientific/medical register.
Escalate when
Whether the tone crosses from scientific into promotional is debatable.
Where this comes from
Section V, Recommendation 4 · page 11. The highlighted words are quoted exactly; a script confirms they appear in the source before the rule can be published.
…tent the response consists of published reprints from journals, those reprints should be from journals that have a publicly stated policy, to which the organization adheres, of full disclosure of any conflict of interest or biases for all authors, contributors, or editors associated with the journal or organization. 4. Information distributed in response to an unsolicited request should be scientific in nature. When responding to an unsolicited request for information, a firm should respond with material that is scientific in tone and presentation. The material should not be promotional in tone or presentation. Furthermore, the responsive material should not be distributed along with other material or information that is promotional in nature or tone. 5. Responses to unsolicited requests for information should be generated by medical or scientific personnel independent from sales or marketing departments. FDA recommends that questions or requests about of…
- Document
- FDA guidance: Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices (see document)
- Version
- as retrieved — the publisher does not version this document; the fingerprint below identifies the exact file
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-21 from www.fda.gov
- Fingerprint
- 8ab6bfda34ad39a70987805b…
FDA guidance describes the agency's current thinking. It is not binding law, and this rule is a recommendation, not an obligation.