The Food and Drug Administration said that in principle it supports the idea of using email for product recalls. That could radically change the way medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies deal with situations involving drugs and products are found to be dangerous. Currently, most recall notices are sent via certified snail mail, meaning that it can take weeks--and months in many cases--before patients learn that a problem exists. FDA officials say allowing electronic notification could save lives and make handling recalls less expensive for companies when problems occur. Critics note that email may be less reliable because it has a high failure rate and recipients often neglect to check their mail for long periods of time.
- see this article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune