The Selfie Queen herself has just been busted.
Kim Kardashian's paid endorsement for Diclegis, a morning sickness pill, landed her in hot water when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deemed the ad misleading due to the fact that Kim's warnings to consult a doctor before taking the drug were not enough. Instead the FDA says she should have listed down all the possible risks and side effects associated with it.
Duchesnay, Inc., the Quebec-based pharmaceutical which manufacturers Diclegis, has been in this situation before, and the FDA is not dishing out its cease-and-desist letter lightly. The Canadian company has until Aug. 21 to submit its plan of action to not make the same mistake again in their promotional material and, if the government gets their way, even Kim Kardashian may have to get involved in the clean-up.
In the caption for her selfie posted on July 21, Kim, who is pregnant with baby number two, said that she was prescribed the drug by her doctor after she suffered "pretty bad" morning sickness. She went on to say that, according to studies, the drug poses no increased risk to the baby.
Although she also posted links to the company's website with the complete information on reactions and side effects and also urged women to consult with their own doctors on the safety of taking Diclegis, the FDA pointed out that it was still misleading because it did not list down the complete side effects of taking the drug and that the drug has not been studied in women who have severe nausea caused by a pregnancy condition called hyperemesis gravidarum.
According to the letter the FDA sent to Duchesnay, Inc., Kim may have to post a mea culpa on her Instagram and Twitter accounts as part of the sanctions against Duchesnay, Inc. and her role in the paid endorsement.
"To the extent possible, corrective messaging should be distributed using the same media, and generally for the same duration of time and with the same frequency that the violative promotional material was disseminated," the FDA's request reads [pdf].
The selfie in question has since been removed from Kim's social media accounts but a screenshot was captured and posted by Forbes online. No word yet from her camp on what actions she will take to comply with the FDA's warning against Duchesnay, Inc.
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